Long before Webb was launched from French Guiana, we were waiting for this moment: the first full-color images of this cutting-edge space telescope. NASA announced yesterday that these images will be available on July 12, along with some spectroscopic data.
“The launch of Webb’s first full-color images will provide a unique moment for us all to stop and marvel at a sight that humanity has never seen before,” said Eric Smith, a Webb program scientist at headquarters. from NASA in Washington, in a NASA statement. .
Webb launched on December 25 and reached its observation point in space, a place called L2, a million miles from Earth, a month later. Since then, NASA scientists (as well as scientists from European and Canadian space agencies, who are partners in the telescope’s mission) have been working hard to prepare the machine for science.
The main scientific objectives of the telescope are to study the birth of stars and the appearance of planetary systems, to know the evolution of galaxies and local objects such as exoplanets, and to investigate the first light sources in the universe: the first stars. and galaxies. .
“Our goals for Webb’s first images and data are to show the telescope’s powerful instruments and predict the upcoming scientific mission,” said astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, a Webb project scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute. of Baltimore, in the same statement. “They’re sure to deliver a much-anticipated ‘wow’ for astronomers and the public.”
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NASA has had a firm eye on what the first color images of Webb will show, although we had a clue last month, when the agency released some notable photos of the Large Magellanic Cloud taken by the MIRI instrument from Webb and held an information session on what was to come. From this press conference, we know that the images (called “early release observations”) will be from Webb’s scientific goals. But the exact issues will remain a “surprise” until the images are released in July, Pontoppidan said last month.
The first images are only a month away, but many will follow later. The Webb mission, which is only scheduled to last five years, can last up to 20 years, thanks to the fuel saved during an ultra-precise launch.
More: NASA publishes ridiculously sharp images from the Webb Space Telescope