The James Webb Telescope’s First Photos Show Its Extraordinary Power

Astronomers and space fans have been waiting years for this moment: James Webb . Space Telescope The group has finally released some stunning images, a teaser that teases what’s to come.

NASA’s newest flagship space telescope, developed in collaboration with European and Canadian space agencies, follows in the footsteps of Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra. The first stock photo of breathtaking images of nebulae and distant galaxies, as well as the spectrum of an alien planet’s atmosphere, highlights what telescopes can really do. Okay.

Even the Biden administration joined in the excitement, praising the Webb team and release an image on Monday, an early day. “This telescope is one of mankind’s great technical achievements and the images we will see today are testament to the amazing work done by thousands of workers across our country. us who have devoted many years to this project,” said Vice President Kamala Harris at White at the briefing.

“It’s a new window in the history of our universe, and today we get a glimpse of the first light shining through that window,” President Joe Biden said at the same event. . He then presented a vividly detailed image of a galaxy cluster, a cosmic structure so massive that it bends light, acting like a lens to probe the more distant objects of the universe. primitive pillar.

“This image is remarkable because of the number of galaxies you see, and it’s not the deepest that Webb could have, so we’ll see a lot more. This is definitely an appetizer, and the main course will be out for months and years to come,” said Jonathan Lunine, a Cornell University astrobiologist on the JWST team.

The mission didn’t get off to an easy start: The project nearly $10 billion exceeded its budget and suffered years of delays. And the telescope’s name has continued to be a source of criticism; its name, James Webb, policies related to homophobia are implemented while leading NASA in the 1960s. (Many astronomers prefer to call the telescope simply by its acronym: JWST.)

After JWST launched last Christmas, the scientists moved it into place and began about six months of setting up detailed work and check the instruments of the telescope, which includes sensitive near- and mid-infrared cameras, as well as a spectrometer, which transmits measured light into its component wavelengths. Now this work is bearing fruit, as subtle images emerge that allow astronomers to begin their scientific analysis.

The new images provide a taste of what scientists can achieve with powerful telescopes. Research programs will use these images to measure the expansion of the universe, study the first galaxies to gather, and examine what exoplanets are made of. As the science programs roll out over the next few months, a library of images will begin to accumulate on NASA’s public JWST website, Lunine said.

Here are five images NASA released on Tuesday morning.

A giant galaxy cluster

This image of the galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723 shows thousands of galaxies in the distant universe, in a region of the sky today known as Webb’s First Deep. It was imaged using JWST’s near-infrared camera, NIRCam, which shows that the cluster appeared about 4.6 billion years ago. It acts as a gravitational lens, bending light and bringing dimmer and even further objects into focus.

Spectrum of a giant planet

JWST also comes with a spectrometer, which can probe the contents of the atmospheres of the planets. WASP-96 is a gas giant about half the size of Jupiter and about 1,150 light-years away. It orbits its star once every 3.4 days. JWST can infer the presence of clouds and fog around the planet.

Nebula of a dying star

This image shows the spectacular Southern Ring Nebula in the near and mid-infrared: a dying star ejecting waves of gas and dust clouds, which can later become material for new stars. Many of Hubble’s now iconic images are also nebulae, such as the Crab Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula.

A compact galaxy group

This image of a tight group of five galaxies known as Stephan’s Quartet shows details of the first compact galaxy group ever discovered. Such closely spaced galaxies are locked in a cosmic dance, constantly rubbing against each other, twisting and pulling apart, as can be seen in spiral galaxies with oblong arms.

Nebula of young stars

This image shows part of the Carina Nebula, one of the largest and brightest, filled with young and massive stars, which are sucking up gas and dust as they grow. JWST’s sensitive camera reveals hundreds of newborn stars in the nebula that have never been seen before, as well as galaxies lurking in the background.