And it’s not just stars. There are galaxies, a planet too, and what promises to be the deepest view into the past that humanity has ever been able to achieve. On Tuesday, the first images from the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be shared with the world. Only a handful of the thousands of scientists and engineers working on the project have seen them. But the words “spectacular” and “beautiful” are whispered among those who have done it. In a teaser before the main launch, NASA, the European and Canadian Space Agencies, which collaborated on JWST, released a list of the five places in the universe that have been first imaged by the telescope. The locations aren’t exactly household names, but they’ve been carefully chosen to show off the capabilities of the new infrared telescope and its massive 6.5m gold-plated mirror. Image: Carina Nebula. Photo: NASA The first is the Carina Nebula, a cloud of dust 50 light-years across and stars 1000 light-years from Earth. It is one of the most beautiful objects in our galaxy. But it is also important to understand how we exist. The colossal cloud of dust and gas is one of the most active star-forming regions discovered so far. It is possible that our solar system formed in a place like this. Astrophysicist Professor Martin Barstow at the University of Leicester said: “Infrared allows you to penetrate through this dust and gas. “It will give us a whole new perspective.” Star-forming regions are more than just scientifically interesting, according to Dr. Jeffery Kargel of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. “They are not just beautiful, but philosophically fascinating and even spiritually moving when contemplating the processes of creation and destruction and the almost certain origin of life on many, many planets around many stars in the nebula.” Arguably the most impressive target is one little known outside the field of astronomy. Image: SMACS 0723. Pic: Space Telescope Science Institute A region called SMACS 0723, where massive clusters of distant galaxies act to bend light due to their enormous gravity. This “gravitational lens” brings the earliest light in the universe into view. We haven’t been able to see it before because the light is in the infrared spectrum—beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s line of sight and invisible through our dusty atmosphere on Earth. The prize, Professor Barstow said, is “first light”: the JWST probe must capture the earliest light in the universe created about 400 million years after the Big Bang. “Webb is the only tool we have to do that,” Professor Barstow said. Will JWST be able to see objects in infrared darkness? We’ll have to wait and find out. It will show a whole new view of a group of colliding galaxies called the Stephano Quintet, as well as the “cosmic smoke ring” left by an exploding star called the Southern Ring Nebula. Image: Stephan’s Quintet. Photo: NASA Image: The ‘cosmic smoke ring’ left by an exploding star called the Southern Ring Nebula. Photo: NASA The end goal is tiny compared to the others. A planet called WASP-96-b, more than 1000 light-years from Earth, orbits a star very similar to our own Sun. It is hoped that JWST’s measurements of this planet will prove its potential as a tool to search for life elsewhere in the universe. “This will not be a visual spectacle, but it will be a scientific treasure,” Dr Kargel said. JWST will be able to study the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere in unprecedented detail by imaging it as it passes in front of its star. Don’t get too excited – WASP-96-b is a Jupiter-like planet very close to its star, so it’s almost certainly hot and lifeless. These dark objects in the night sky can leave many people cold. But the excitement among astronomers, cosmologists and planetary scientists ahead of Tuesday’s big reveal is palpable. “Put your brain in, put the hatches on and wait for your brain to blow. It’s going to be a Category 5,” Dr. Kargel said.
title: " Expect Your Mind To Be Blown James Webb Space Telescope To Show Universe Like Never Before Science Tech News " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-12” author: “William Morgan”
And it’s not just stars. There are galaxies, a planet too, and what promises to be the deepest view into the past that humanity has ever been able to achieve. On Tuesday, the first images from the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be shared with the world. Only a handful of the thousands of scientists and engineers working on the project have seen them. But the words “spectacular” and “beautiful” are whispered among those who have done it. In a teaser before the main launch, NASA, the European and Canadian Space Agencies, which collaborated on JWST, released a list of the five places in the universe that have been first imaged by the telescope. The locations aren’t exactly household names, but they’ve been carefully chosen to show off the capabilities of the new infrared telescope and its massive 6.5m gold-plated mirror. The first is the Carina Nebula, a cloud of dust 50 light-years across and stars 1000 light-years from Earth. It is one of the most beautiful objects in our galaxy. But it is also important to understand how we exist. The colossal cloud of dust and gas is one of the most active star-forming regions discovered so far. It is possible that our solar system formed in a place like this. Astrophysicist Professor Martin Barstow at the University of Leicester said: “Infrared allows you to penetrate through this dust and gas. “It will give us a whole new perspective.” Star-forming regions are more than just scientifically interesting, according to Dr. Jeffery Kargel of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. “They are not just beautiful, but philosophically fascinating and even spiritually moving when contemplating the processes of creation and destruction and the almost certain origin of life on many, many planets around many stars in the nebula.” Arguably the most impressive target is one little known outside the field of astronomy. Image: SMACS 0723. Pic: Space Telescope Science Institute A region called SMACS 0723, where massive clusters of distant galaxies act to bend light due to their enormous gravity. This “gravitational lens” brings the earliest light in the universe into view. We haven’t been able to see it before because the light is in the infrared spectrum—beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s line of sight and invisible through our dusty atmosphere on Earth. The prize, Professor Barstow said, is “first light”: the JWST probe must capture the earliest light in the universe created about 400 million years after the Big Bang. “Webb is the only tool we have to do that,” Professor Barstow said. Will JWST be able to see objects in infrared darkness? We’ll have to wait and find out. It will show a whole new view of a group of colliding galaxies called the Stephano Quintet, as well as the “cosmic smoke ring” left by an exploding star called the Southern Ring Nebula. Image: Stephan’s Quintet. Photo: NASA Image: The ‘cosmic smoke ring’ left by an exploding star called the Southern Ring Nebula. Photo: NASA The end goal is tiny compared to the others. A planet called WASP-96-b, more than 1000 light-years from Earth, orbits a star very similar to our own Sun. It is hoped that JWST’s measurements of this planet will prove its potential as a tool to search for life elsewhere in the universe. “This will not be a visual spectacle, but it will be a scientific treasure,” Dr Kargel said. JWST will be able to study the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere in unprecedented detail by imaging it as it passes in front of its star. Don’t get too excited – WASP-96-b is a Jupiter-like planet very close to its star, so it’s almost certainly hot and lifeless. These dark objects in the night sky can leave many people cold. But the excitement among astronomers, cosmologists and planetary scientists ahead of Tuesday’s big reveal is palpable. “Put your brain in, put the hatches on and wait for your brain to blow. It’s going to be a Category 5,” Dr. Kargel said.
