The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted its first star and taken a selfie, NASA announced Friday. The steps are part of a months-long process to align the observatory’s giant golden mirror that astronomers hope will begin unraveling the mysteries of the early Universe this summer . The first image sent to space is far from stunning: 18 faint white dots on a black background, all showing the same object: HD 84406, a bright, isolated star in the constellation Ursa Major.
However, it represents an important milestone. The 18 points are captured by the 18 individual segments of the main mirror – and the image is now the basis for aligning and focusing those hexagonal pieces on James Webb . Space Telescope.
The light reflected segments to Webb’s secondary mirror, a circular object located at the end of long outbursts, and then to the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) device – Webb’s primary imaging device.
Marcia Rieke, NIRCam’s principal investigator and professor of astronomy, University of Arizona, said: “The entire Webb team is amazed by the first steps of imaging and aligning the telescopes. how well it’s going.”
“We are delighted to see the light entering NIRCam.”
Photographing began on February 2, with Webb pointing at various locations around the predicted location of the star.
Although Webb’s initial search covered an area of the sky about the size of the full Moon, all the dots were located near the center, meaning that the observatory was located. Relatively good taste for final alignment.
To aid in this process, the team also took a “selfie” taken not through an external camera but through a special lens on board the NIRCam.
NASA has previously said that selfies are not possible, so this news comes as a welcome bonus for fans of the universe.
Lee Feinberg, Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, told reporters on a call, explaining that the team was unsure whether such an image could be obtained using starlight alone.
The $10 billion (approximately Rs. 75,600) observatory of space is known as the second Lagrange point.
Webb will begin its science mission this summer, which will include using high-resolution instruments to go back 13.5 billion years to the first generation of galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. .
Visible and ultraviolet light emitted by the first luminous objects was stretched by the expansion of the Universe, and to this day in the form of infrared, which Webb is equipped to detect with unprecedented clarity.
Its mission also includes studying distant planets, known as exoplanets, to determine their origin, evolution and habitability.
