The first image from the $10 billion telescope is set to show the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance, closer to the dawn of the universe and to the edge of the universe. US President Joe Biden will unveil the first image around 5 p.m. ET, followed by four more galactic beauty shots on Tuesday.
Read more: James Webb Telescope sends back more stunning photos of distant galaxies
NASA said Biden will show a “deep field” image. This shot is likely to be filled with many stars—”many” is an understatement—with massive foreground galaxies distorting the light of objects behind, telescoping them and making faint and extremely distant galaxies visible. Part of the picture will consist of light from not long after the Big Bang. Story continues below ad The images to be released on Tuesday include a view of a gas giant planet outside our solar system, two images of a nebula where stars are born and die in stunning beauty, and an update of a classic image of five tightly packed galaxies dancing around each other. the other. 3:52 New space telescope offers a possible view of the origin of the universe New space telescope offers a possible view of the origin of the universe – February 1, 2022 JWST is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, which not only provided stunning images, but was also vital in providing scientific knowledge about our universe and its origins. A high-definition photo of the “Pillars of Creation” as taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA, ESA, STScI and J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)/Hubble Legacy Team (STScI/AURA) JWST has a much larger primary mirror than Hubble (2.7 times larger in diameter, or about six times larger in area), giving it more light-gathering power and much improved sensitivity over Hubble. Story continues below ad JWST was launched and there were no second chances – its extremely distant location in the solar system makes it impossible for human crews to work on it. Teams of engineers celebrate at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore as the second primary mirror wing of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope unfolds, before the process of locking the mirror wing into place begins, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022. Bill Ingalls / NASA via The Associated Press But the telescope’s massive sunshield, with its 107 components holding it in place, was released properly and everything went according to plan. Trending Stories
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So far, we’ve seen a small glimpse of JWST’s visual splendor. In May, the telescope sent back a series of test images that showed stunning images of a neighboring satellite galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. Compared to previous images taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope, the results are astonishing. The sharpness and level of detail captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope (right). NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI “It’s only when you actually see the kind of picture it gives you that you really internalize and go ‘wow!’” Marcia Rieke, lead scientist for Webb’s near-infrared camera at the University of Arizona, said at the time. “Think what we’ll learn.” Story continues below ad Computer, improve! Compare the same target — seen by Spitzer & Webb calibration images. Spitzer, NASA’s first Large Infrared Observatory, led to Webb’s larger primary mirror and improved detectors to see the infrared sky with even greater clarity: pic.twitter.com/g941Ug2rJ8 — NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) May 9, 2022 And in March, the telescope delivered an impressive photo of a star to NASA, passing its first mission with flying colors. The telescope’s alignment evaluation image, which focuses on a star called 2MASS J17554042+6551277, blew the researchers’ hair off. Galaxies and stars are seen behind the star 2MASS J17554042+6551277 in this image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. Courtesy / NASA “We said last fall that we would know the telescope is working properly when we have an image of a star-like star,” Lee Feinberg, Webb Optical Telescope component manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, told Cosmos magazine. year. Story continues below ad “The performance is as good if not better than our most optimistic forecast.”
Read more: ‘Absolutely phenomenal’ — Webb Telescope’s first images have stunned scientists
Scientists believe the telescope will be able to look back in time, possibly 100 million years after the Big Bang. And not only do scientists think they can look back at galaxies from that time, they also think they may be able to determine the composition of those galaxies. In this 2017 photo released by NASA, technicians lift the mirror assembly of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane. Desiree Stover/NASA Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA’s science mission, said that with the new telescope, the world is “giving up secrets that have been there for many, many decades, centuries, millennia.” “It’s not a picture. It’s a new worldview that you’re going to see,” he said during a recent media briefing. Story continues below ad Zurbuchen said when he saw the images he was moved, as were his colleagues. “It’s really hard not to look at the universe in a new light and not just have a deeply personal moment.” NASA is collaborating on Webb with the European and Canadian space agencies. — With files from The Associated Press 2:47 NASA’s historic James Webb Space Telescope takes off Previous Video Next Video © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
