The first image released from the Webb Telescope shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA and STScI
The wait is over. The first science image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has landed, and astronomers are in awe. US President Joe Biden released a historic image, the deepest astronomical image of the distant universe, during a press conference at the White House on Monday. NASA will release more images on July 12.
The first image, carefully guarded before being revealed, demonstrates the telescope’s transformative power. It shows thousands of distant galaxies in the Volans constellation, fainter than any seen before, in a patch of sky no larger than that covered by a grain of sand held at arm’s length.
It shows “the oldest documented light in the history of the Universe, from more than 13 billion — let me say that again — 13 billion years ago,” Biden said in releasing the image. “It’s hard to even fathom.”
“I’m just amazed,” says astronomer Vivian U of the University of California, Irvine.
Scientists hope that Webb, the largest telescope ever launched into space, will revolutionize space exploration. The first batch of images to be released, including the Deep Extraction, has been selected to cover all of the observatory’s main science targets: the early universe, the evolution of galaxies and stars, and planets outside the Solar System.
A transformational telescope
Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, one of the largest and most famous space telescopes, the Webb primarily detects infrared wavelengths. By probing infrared light, it can penetrate clouds of dust that obscure newborn stars and peer further into space than ever before. Webb “isn’t Hubble version 2 — it’s really a very different telescope,” says Zolt Levay, a retired astronomer and image processor who worked on Hubble images for decades. “It’s the invisible light we’re looking at.”
Galaxies very far from Earth can only be seen at infrared wavelengths because the expansion of the Universe has shifted their light from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum to the infrared. Webb’s first deep-field image shows this effect dramatically around a cluster of galaxies known as SMACS 0723, located about 4 billion light-years from Earth. This may interest you : The US has announced the end of testing anti-satellite weapons. The clusters’ gravity bends and magnifies the light of the objects behind it, allowing astronomers to see very distant objects.
“The things that catch my eye are distorted galaxies,” says Lisa Dang, an astronomer at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. “They look like no other galaxy we know.”
Webb’s first image shows galaxies that may be more than 13 billion years old, almost all the way back to the Big Bang that created the universe 13.8 billion years ago. This brings to mind several deep-field images taken by Hubble. The first of these, taken over 10 days over Christmas 1995, revealed that a seemingly empty patch of sky was filled with thousands of previously unseen galaxies. Webb’s first image took only 12.5 hours to produce, compared to the weeks it took Hubble to observe other deep fields.
Webb also specializes in spectroscopy, which studies how light at different wavelengths interacts with matter. The infrared spectra of astronomical objects that Webb produces can reveal what those objects are chemically made of—to a degree that images cannot. “There’s some really fascinating science going on,” says Elizabeth Kessler, a historian at Stanford University in California who has studied the aesthetic impact of Hubble images.
Webb’s first scientific images are something of a catharsis for a telescope project that has suffered years of delays and billions of dollars in overruns. Originally planned in 1989, Webb cost NASA nearly US$10 billion. It is the most complex space observatory ever built. Its 6.5-meter-wide primary mirror had to launch folded and then unfold like a butterfly spreading its wings, performing a series of nerve-wracking maneuvers. Engineers had to test this tennis-court-sized sunshade, made of thin layers of aluminum-coated polymer film, several times to make sure it would unfold properly and then protect the telescope’s instruments in the deep freeze of outer space.
NASA’s partners, the European and Canadian space agencies, contributed a total of about $1 billion to make the telescope a reality. Webb finally launched in December 2021 and spent six months preparing its instruments for science; it is expected to work for at least 20 years.
The world is watching
Webb is named after James E. Webb, who led NASA at the height of the Apollo lunar exploration program in the 1960s. Some astronomers have called for the telescope to be renamed, given that James Webb had a prominent leadership role in the US State Department in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when the department was at the forefront of the US government’s identification and dismissal of gays. On the same subject : Pioneering NASA aerospace industry official: ‘Bro culture’ is bad for business. and lesbian employees. NASA has said it has no evidence to change the name of the telescope. Its acting chief historian, along with another historian, are continuing to investigate the issue and are expected to issue a report on their findings soon.
The first Webb images represent just a sliver of the science it makes possible. In the last few weeks, they were only watched for 120 hours. Upcoming studies include the planets Jupiter and Saturn, small, faint stars known as red dwarfs, distant colliding galaxies and hot rocky planets around other stars. U, which has observing time on Webb, expects its first data from the telescope as early as Thursday. At that time, Webb’s team uploads observations of galaxy mergers to a website so he and his colleagues can access them.
Levay remembers working on some of Hubble’s most iconic image releases, such as the release of images taken after astronauts visited the Earth-orbiting telescope to upgrade its instruments. “You know the whole world is watching and you better deliver,” he says.
Webb appears to have done just that. “It’s working better than I think anyone expected,” says Levay. “And that’s great.”
How long will it take for the James Webb telescope to send pictures?
After reaching orbit, Webb will undergo science and calibration tests. Then, regular science operations and images begin to arrive, about six months after launch. To see also : Images from the Modern Warfare 2 map appear to have been leaked via the COD Warzone mobile. However, it is also normal to take a series of "first light" pictures that may arrive a little earlier.
When can we expect images from the James Webb Telescope? The first full-color images from the James Webb Space Telescope will be released on July 12, 2022, NASA scientists announced.
How will we communicate with the James Webb telescope?
How does Webb interact with Earth scientists? Webb sends scientific and technical data to Earth using a high-frequency radio transmitter.
How long will it take James Webb?
NASA estimates that work after launch could take up to 120 days before the alignment is complete. The James Webb Space Telescope reached its final destination of L2, the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point it orbits, on January 24, 2022, after traveling nearly a million miles (1.5 million kilometers).
How far back will James Webb telescope see?
“We’re looking back more than 13 billion years,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a White House event. “Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and the light you see coming from one of these tiny specks has been traveling for over 13 billion years.”
What did James Webb discover?
| Goals | The James Webb Space Telescope is an infrared observatory that complements and extends the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope with longer wavelength coverage and significantly improved sensitivity. |
|---|---|
| The goals of science | Our Solar System | Outside our solar system |
| Type | Orbiter |
What does James Webb look at first? In the first year of its scientific activity, the James Webb Space Telescope will study the small galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, search for the oldest stars in the universe or study the mysterious remains of an exploded star. However, its very first scientific targets remain top secret.
What did James Webb telescope find?
More images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope should be able to reveal which galaxies far, far away are habitable, Nelson said. The White House, along with NASA, unveiled the first series of images from the telescope since it was launched from Earth more than six months ago.
What is special about James Webb Space Telescope?
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe yet. This image of the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s first deep field, is rich in detail.
Is the James Webb telescope in space?
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is finally at home in space as it prepares to observe the cosmos.
How long will it take to deploy the James Webb Telescope? About four months into the mission, the entire telescope will be aligned. In total, it will take five and a half months to power up and test Webb’s instruments. Webb then begins routine scientific observations and transmits its first images.
Is the Webb telescope in space?
Where is the James Webb telescope currently located?
25. 2021 on a mission to explore the earliest stars and look further into the universe’s past than ever before. Webb is now almost 1 million miles (1.6 million km) away from its observation site, Lagrange Point 2 (L2). It is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever launched.
Is James Webb telescope working?
We’ve gotten a look at the telescope’s real-world performance in space, and with the first science images, we’re showing not only that Webb is working, but that it’s fully capable of doing all the amazing science it was built for. It’s a wonderful feeling.
