It was launched to look back in time to the dawn of the universe and to capture what happened just a couple of hundred million years after the Big Bang.
Now, six months after the launch of the new astronomy space supertelescope, NASA is finally ready to release the first real-color images taken by the James Webb Observatory.
Astronomers say the images “are sure to deliver a long-awaited” wow “when they are revealed to the public on July 12.
NASA added that it will be “a unique moment for us all to stop and marvel at a sight that humanity has never seen before.”
The US space agency, which is leading the Webb project, has previously released a set of engineering images to show that all the hardware works as it should in the $ 10 billion (£ 7.4 billion) telescope. .
Six months after the launch of the new astronomy space supertelescope, NASA is finally ready to release the first true color images taken by the James Webb Observatory (pictured)
Two images of the Large Magellanic Cloud captured by Spitzer (left) and Webb (right). Webb’s image not only shows stars in the foreground with sharp details, but also more subtle details, such as faint interstellar gas clouds and hundreds of stars and background galaxies.
James Webb Space Telescope Instruments
NIRCam (Near InfraRed Camera) an infrared imaging camera from the edge of the visible through the near infrared
NIRSpec (Near InfraRed Spectrograph) will also perform spectroscopy in the same wavelength range.
MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) will measure the average long wavelength range from 5 to 27 micrometers.
FGS / NIRISS (Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph), is used to stabilize the line of sight of the observatory during scientific observations.
These images showed slightly different views of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy in our Milky Way, but it is unclear what the first full-color images will capture.
Webb went through a six-month preparation period before he could begin scientific work, calibrating his instruments to their space environment and aligning their mirrors.
It was launched into space on December 25 last year and later launched into orbit a million miles from our planet.
Scientists expect the observatory, a replacement for the 32-year-old Hubble Telescope, to be able to look back 13.5 billion years at a point between 100 and 200 million years of the Big Bang.
It has an ambitious mission to study the early universe, find out how fast it is expanding, and analyze objects across the cosmos, from galaxies to exoplanets.
The telescope has a famous golden mirror that consists of 18 individual hexagonal segments, each controlled by seven actuators that allow precise movement and focus.
They have had to deploy slowly and meticulously over the past six months to prepare James Webb for his scientific mission.
“As we approach the end of the observatory’s preparation for science, we are on the precipice of an incredibly exciting period of discovery about our universe,” said Eric Smith, a Webb program scientist at NASA in Washington.
“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.
“These images will be the culmination of decades of dedication, talent and dreams, but they will also be just the beginning.”
NASA said Webb was now “at full power” and “ready to begin his scientific mission.”
Deciding how to look at the telescope has been a project for more than five years.
It involved an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which hosts science and mission operations. of Webb.
“Our goals for Webb’s first images and data are both to show the telescope’s powerful instruments and to predict the upcoming scientific mission,” said astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, a Webb project scientist at STScI.
“They’re sure to offer a much-anticipated ‘wow’ to astronomers and the public.”
Once each of Webb’s instruments has been calibrated, tested, and given the green light by his science and engineering teams, the first spectroscopic images and observations will be made.
James Webb’s main mirror consists of 18 hexagonal segments of golden beryllium metal and measures 21 feet and 4 inches (6.5 meters) in diameter. It is supported by three shallow carbon fiber tubes, or struts, extending from the large primary mirror.
The team will proceed through a list of pre-selected targets, before processing the images for the audience.
Although careful planning for Webb’s first real-life images has been going on for a long time, NASA said the new telescope is so powerful that it’s hard to predict exactly how it will look.
“Of course, there are things we look forward to and look forward to, but with a new telescope and this new high-resolution infrared data, we won’t know until we see it,” said Joseph DePasquale, developer of scientific visuals for STScI.
The new images will be the first in full color and the first to show Webb’s full scientific capabilities.
In addition to the images, Webb will capture spectroscopic data: detailed information that astronomers can read in the light, while all data taken while the telescope is aligned and the instruments are prepared will also be made available to the public.
After capturing their first images, they will begin scientific observations of the observatory, continuing to explore key scientific topics of the mission.
Teams have already requested through a competitive process time to use the telescope, in what astronomers call their first “cycle,” or first year of observations.
These observations mark the official start of Webb’s general scientific operations, the work for which he was designed.
Takeoff: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Successfully Launched into Space on December 25
Astronomers will use Webb to observe the infrared universe, analyze the data collected, and publish scientific articles about their discoveries.
Beyond what is already planned for Webb, there are unexpected discoveries that astronomers cannot predict.
In 1990, when Hubble was launched, dark energy was completely unknown. It is now one of the most exciting areas of astrophysics.
Scientists are now eagerly awaiting what secrets James Webb might unlock and what this might mean for our understanding of the universe.
Described by NASA as the leading space science observatory of the next decade, Webb will primarily see the cosmos in the infrared spectrum, allowing it to look through the clouds of gas and dust where stars are born.
In comparison, its predecessor Hubble has operated primarily at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths since its launch in 1990.
Webb is about 100 times more powerful than Hubble, allowing it to observe objects at greater distances, therefore further back in time, than Hubble or any other telescope.
NASA likes to think of James Webb as a successor to Hubble instead of a replacement, as the two will work in tandem for a while.
James Webb began development in 1996 and was initially scheduled to launch in 2007, but a major redesign in 2005 re-launched it and a series of additional delays eventually led it to orbit in late from last year.
THE TELESCOPE JAMES WEBB
The James Webb Telescope has been described as a “time machine” that could help unravel the secrets of our universe.
The telescope will be used to look back at the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, and to observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system.
The vast telescope, which has already cost more than $ 7 billion (£ 5 billion), is considered a successor to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The James Webb Telescope and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of about 40 Kelvin, about 387 Fahrenheit (minus 233 Celsius).
It is the largest and most powerful orbital space telescope in the world, capable of looking back 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang.