NASA’s new space supertelescope suffered more damage than previously thought when it was hit by a space rock in May, a new report has revealed.
The observatory’s $ 10 billion (7.4 billion pound) primary mirror was permanently altered when it was hit by the only micrometeorite, NASA has revealed, though it will not affect Webb’s ability to take images. fascinating as the first officers released last week.
Analysis of the telescope during its commissioning phase revealed that five of the six micrometeorite blows to its large mirror between January and June caused negligible damage.
However, an impact on a mirror segment labeled C3 in mid-May left the telescope with more damage that can be completely corrected.
NASA’s new space supertelescope suffered more damage than previously thought when it was hit by a space rock in May, a new report has revealed.
The observatory’s primary mirror of $ 10 billion ($ 7.4 billion) (pictured) was permanently altered when it was hit by the only micrometeorite, NASA has revealed, although it will not affect its ability to Webb for taking fascinating pictures like the first officers released last week.
TELESCPI INSTRUMENTS JAMES WEBB
NIRCam (Near InfraRed Camera) an infrared image 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.
“The impact of a single micrometeorite that occurred between 22 and 24 May 2022 at UT exceeded expectations of pre-launch damage from a single micrometeoroid that triggered additional research and modeling by of the JWST project, ”the report said.
The commissioning period was a meticulous process that began shortly after Webb arrived in space and lasted until a few weeks ago, when ground controllers successfully completed the calibration, alignment, and testing of the mirrors. and telescope instruments.
During this time, five micrometeoroid strokes caused little damage equivalent to less than 1 nanometer wavefront error (RMS), which is a technical way to describe how much the Webb mirror distorts the light of stars that pick up the mirror.
Most of the distortion added by these impacts can be corrected outside the mirror because the 18 hexagonal segments that make it up can be adjusted individually and finely.
However, the sixth increased the segment wavefront error from 56 nanometers to 178 nanometers after the correction by adjusting the segment.
This damage to the C3 segment could still be offset, however, and did not compromise the resolution of the Webb main mirror as a whole.
The report added: “The micrometeoroid that hit the C3 segment during the period from 22 to 24 May 2022 UT caused a significant incorrigible change in the overall figure for this segment.
“However, the effect was small at the level of the entire telescope because only a small part of the telescope’s area was affected.”
Micrometeoroid shocks are a problem for Webb because his 21-foot (6.5 m) diameter mirror is exposed in space, unlike his Hubble predecessor.
But because of its orbit 1 million miles (1.5 million km) from Earth, at a point called Lagrange’s second point, or L2, experts only expected Webb to encounter potentially dangerous micrometeorites once on Earth. month.
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, that extend from the primary mirror.
Webb’s infrared capabilities allow it to “look back in time” at the Big Bang, which happened 13.8 billion years ago. Light waves move extremely fast, about 186,000 miles (300,000 km) per second, every second. The farther away an object is, the further back in time we are looking. This is due to the time it takes light to travel from the object to us
Spectacular: In the photo is the first image from the James Webb Space Telescope, which shows SMACS 0723, a cluster of galaxies billions of light-years from Earth.
“It is still unclear whether the May 2022 impact on the C3 segment was a rare event (i.e., an unfortunate early attack by a high kinetic energy micrometeoroid that statistically could occur only once in several years), “the report said,” or whether the The telescope may be more susceptible to damage from micrometeoroids than the pre-launch model.
Webb’s team is now looking at what can be done to mitigate future micrometeorite shocks, including the potential limitation of how long the telescope points in known directions to expose the mirror to a higher likelihood of such impacts.
Last week, Webb’s dazzling and unprecedented images of a “star nursery,” a dust-covered dying star, and a “cosmic dance” among a group of galaxies were revealed to the world for the first time.
It put an end to months of waiting and feverish anticipation, as people around the world received the first batch of a treasure trove of images that will culminate in the first look at the dawn of the universe.
Webb’s infrared capabilities mean it can “look back in time” to just 100-200 million years of the Big Bang, allowing it to capture images of the first stars shining in the universe more of 13.5 billion years.
His first images of nebulae, an exoplanet, and galaxy clusters sparked a great celebration in the scientific world, in what was hailed as a “great day for humanity.”
Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the masses, ages, histories, and compositions of galaxies, while Webb seeks to explore the early galaxies in the universe.
A report was published on the prepress academic server arxiv.org.
THE TELESCPI 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 observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets in our solar system.
The vast telescope, which has already cost more than $ 7 billion (£ 5 billion), is considered a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit.
The James Webb Telescope and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of about 40 Kelvin, about minus 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.
The orbiting infrared observatory is designed to be about 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space 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.
The Hubble Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990 via the Discovery space shuttle from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It orbits the Earth at a speed of about 17,000 mph (27,300 km / h) in low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 340 miles.