New images from the James Webb Space Telescope prove that the massive observatory in deep space isn’t just capable of seeing cosmic objects extremely far from home.
NASA released Webb’s first images of the solar system on Thursday, including Jupiter and asteroids.
Engineers took these pictures during previous tests of the observatory’s instruments. The images show that Webb can see unprecedented detail, even on super-bright and moving things near Earth, while picking up fainter objects. This success is due to the telescope’s pointing sensors, which allow Webb to point, hold and track with precision.
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NASA officials considered including nearby targets in the first batch of stunning deep space images, but instead decided to take the more conservative approach, Klaus Pontoppidan, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, said during a news conference Tuesday.
“We didn’t want to rely on moving target observations to work without things being too complicated,” he said. “As it actually turned out, we probably could.”
The additional images came just two days after NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency presented the first full-color science images from Webb. The event kicked off science operations for the $10 billion telescope. Astronomers expect the Web to unleash a golden age in our understanding of the universe.
Although the images of Jupiter look more like the sepia pictures of the Wild West than the brilliant jewel tones seen on Tuesday, that’s only because they haven’t been processed the same way, according to NASA. Instead, they are produced to emphasize specific characteristics.
For example, Oh Hello Europe! Glad to see you there.
The James Webb Space Telescope photographed Jupiter and its moons Europa, Thebes, and Metis. Courtesy: NASA / ESA / CSA / B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
The James Webb Space Telescope observes Europa’s shadow next to the Great Red Spot. Courtesy: NASA / ESA / CSA / B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
One view from the telescope’s near-infrared camera shows clear streaks around the gas giant planet, as well as the Great Red Spot, a persistent storm large enough to “swallow Earth,” according to NASA. To the left of the spot is the shadow of Europa, one of Jupiter’s orbital moons.
Other moons in these images include Thebes and Metis. All these details were captured with an exposure of about one minute, the US space agency said.
Scientists are relieved that Webb passed the vision test. This means it will take pictures of the moons and rings not only of Jupiter, but also of Saturn and Mars. Astronomers are also looking forward to studying the vapors ejected from Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus, places that could harbor oceans.
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But the team also wanted to know how fast an object could be moving and still be observed by the telescope, which is critical for astronomers who want to study flying space rocks. To test Webb’s limits, engineers attempted to track an asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, 6481 Tenzing. They were not disappointed.
“We had a 30 speed limit [milliarcseconds per second], which is as fast as Mars can achieve,” said Jane Rigby, project scientist at NASA. “We actually broke through on that. We were able to get a speed limit of 67, so we can track faster targets than promised.”
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