WASHINGTON: The cosmic rocks of a stellar nursery, a quintet of galaxies bound in a celestial dance: The James Webb Space Telescope released its next wave of images Tuesday, ushering in a new era of astronomy.
“Every image is a new discovery,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Each will give humanity a view of the universe we have never seen before.”
Released one by one, the new images demonstrate the full power of the $10 billion observatory, which uses infrared cameras to gaze into the distant universe in unprecedented clarity.
On Monday, Webb revealed the clearest image ever captured of the early universe, dating back 13 billion years.
The first batch of full-color, high-resolution images, which took weeks to render from raw telescope data, were selected by NASA to provide compelling preliminary images from Webb’s investigation of key areas and previews of further science missions was.
NASA has revealed five breath-taking new images of the early universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, one on Monday and four on Tuesday.
Scientists say that the pictures will change the way people look at space.
early universe
The first image, which was released Monday, shows “the deepest and sharpest infrared image ever recorded of the distant universe,” NASA said.
The stunning shot, released by President Joe Biden at a White House briefing, is filled with thousands of galaxies and some of the faintest objects seen, painted in shades of blue, orange and white.
Biden expressed a sense of awe that Webb is documenting an imagery of the universe some 13 billion years ago.
“It’s too hard to fathom,” said the president. “These photos are going to be a reminder to the world that America can do great things and to remind the American people, especially our children, that nothing is beyond our ability.”
Known as Webb’s first deep field, it shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which acts as a gravitational lens, which, in a cosmic magnification effect, is behind it and toward the observatory from more distant galaxies. bends the light.
Webb’s primary imager NIRCam – which operates in the near-infrared wavelength spectrum because light from the early universe is stretched by the time it reaches us – has brought into focus these faint background galaxies.
Webb compiled the overall shot in 12.5 hours, more than its predecessor the Hubble Space Telescope could achieve in weeks.
“Fantastic – galaxies upon galaxies,” said Jonathan Lunin, chair of the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University, rejoicing with the rest of the global astronomy community.
“First image from @NASAWebb – A piece of sky covered by a grain of sand at arm’s length. 1000’s of galaxies. Strange arcs are very distant galaxies – their images distorted by the warping of spacetime due to a nearby galaxy cluster,” Brian Cox, professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester, tweeted.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said of the picture: “The sharp objects are local stars in our own galaxy. Ignore them. Everything else is an entire galaxy.”
The next set of images released Tuesday revealed details about distant planetary environments, the “stellar nurseries” where stars form, galaxies locked in a dance of close encounters, and the cloud of gas around a dying star. Is.
Carina Nebula
The photo shows the “mountains” and “valleys” of a star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, known as the “Cosmic Cliffs”, which lies 7,600 light-years away.
Captured in infrared light by Webb, this image reveals previously unseen regions of star birth for the first time.
“For the first time we are seeing brand new stars that were previously completely hidden from our view,” said NASA astrophysicist Amber Strone.
According to the BBC, one of Webb’s major scientific goals is to study how stars form and Carina is an excellent place to do so.
Southern Ring Nebula
A dim star at the center of the Southern Ring Nebula was first revealed to be enveloped in dust, as it spews rings of gas and dust into its death throes.
Understanding the molecules present in such stellar graveyards could help scientists learn more about the process of stellar death.
The southern ring is about half a light-year in diameter and is located at a distance of about 2,000 light-years from Earth.
Such a structure is known as a “planetary nebula,” but it has nothing to do with planets, the BCC reported. “It’s a misnomer from the early days of telescopes when they didn’t have anything like the resolution they have today.”
Stephen’s Quintet
Webb also revealed never-before-seen details of Stephen’s Quintet, a group of five galaxies including four that experience repeated close encounters, providing insight into how the universe began at the beginning. How did galaxies form?
The telescope captures the shockwaves dramatically as one of the galaxies hits the center of the cluster.
About 290 million light-years away, the quintet is located in the constellation Pegasus. It is notable for being the first compact galaxy cluster ever discovered. Four of the five galaxies within it are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters.
hot gas giant exoplanet
The telescope also found water vapor in the atmosphere of a distant gas planet. Spectroscopy—an analysis of light that reveals detailed information—was of the planet WASP-96 b, which was discovered in 2014.
About 1,150 light-years away from Earth, WASP-96 b is about half the mass of Jupiter and orbits its star in just 3.4 days.
Nicole Colon of NASA said, “We’ve seen what happens when a planet and its atmosphere passes in front of a star, and the star light filters through the atmosphere, and you can break it down into wavelengths of light.” ” “So, you’re actually seeing bumps and tremors that indicate the presence of water vapor in the planet’s atmosphere.”
What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
Launched in December 2021 from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket, the telescope is orbiting the Sun 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, in a region of space called the second Lagrange point.
Here, it remains in a fixed position relative to Earth and the Sun, requiring minimal fuel for course correction.
A marvel of engineering, the total project cost is estimated at $10 billion, making it one of the most expensive scientific platforms ever built, comparable to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Webb’s primary mirror is 6.5 meters wide and is composed of 18 gold-coated mirror segments. Like a camera held in one’s hand, the composition must remain as still as possible to get the best shots.
After the first images, astronomers from around the world will get part of the time at the telescope, with projects being competitively selected through a process in which applicants and selectors do not know each other’s identities to reduce bias.
Thanks to an efficient launch, NASA estimates that Webb has enough propellant for a 20-year life, as it works in conjunction with the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to answer basic questions about the universe.
Published in Dawn, July 13, 2022