NASA’s James Webb Telescope will soon reveal “the deepest image of our universe ever made.”
The space agency made the announcement before the release next month of the first images from the $ 10 billion telescope, which is currently 1.2 million kilometers directly “behind” the Earth, as seen by the sun.
“It’s farther than humanity has ever seen, and we’re just beginning to understand what the Web can and will do,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a live media event on Wednesday.
The telescope, which took 20 years to build, will look back to the time immediately after the Big Bang to unravel some of the mysteries of how we got here.
“We are in the middle of getting historical data,” Nelson added.
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NASA’s James Webb Telescope is set to unravel the mysteries of the universe when it releases its first images in a few weeks. Above: The timeline shows the metric expansion of space, including the first stars, the evolution of galaxies and planets – and dark energy
These initial images were based on only 120 hours of observation over five days.
It may seem strange to think of the telescope as a time machine, but in general it can work.
In space, distance is measured by how long it takes light to travel.
According to NASA, our nearest star is more than four light-years away, so when we look at this nearest star, we see it not as it is today, but as it was four years ago.
“One of the goals is to find the first galaxies to form in the universe just after the Big Bang,” said Jonathan Gardner, NASA’s senior senior Webb scientist at Goddard. Above: The graphic in the photo shows a front view of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, including its optical telescope element, primary mirror, OTE secondary mirror, sun shield, and more.
Other galaxies are much farther away.
The Virgo galaxy group is the largest nearby collection of galaxies, about 60 million light-years from the Milky Way.
This means that the light we see today from the galaxies in the Virgo Bowl is on its way to us at the same time as the age of the dinosaurs ends on Earth.
“There’s already some amazing science in the box, and some others will still be taken as we move forward,” Nelson said.
Although NASA scientists have not said exactly what we will see when the images are released to the public, they have given some hints.
“One of the goals is to find the first galaxies to form in the universe just after the Big Bang,” said Jonathan Gardner, NASA’s senior senior Webb scientist at Goddard.
NASA also said the images would include the first-ever exoplanet spectrum. Pictured is the rear view of NASA’s James Webb Telescope, showing its solar panel, inertia valve and spacecraft bus
In the six months since the telescope was launched on December 25, 2021, researchers and scientists have made sure that its massive mirrors are properly positioned and that all scientific instruments are aligned and working. The graph above shows the different sizes of the well-known space telescopes
NASA also said the images would include the first-ever exoplanet spectrum.
These spectra measure the amount of light emitted at certain wavelengths and can give an idea of what the planet is made of and its formation in the history of the universe.
Scientists from the space agency stressed that James Webb will produce much more data and photos in the coming months and years.
In the six months since the telescope was launched on December 25, 2021, researchers and scientists have made sure that its massive mirrors are properly positioned and that all scientific instruments are aligned and working.
“It’s bigger than Hubble, so it can see less light. These first small, pale galaxies merged again and again over time to become the larger ones we know now, including our own Milky Way, ”Gardner added.
These initial images were based on only 120 hours of observation over five days. This NASA photo, released on May 16, 2017, shows the main mirror of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
“We will also see an example of how galaxies interact and grow,” said Klaus Pontopidan, a Webb scientist at the Space Telescope Research Institute. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope The main mirror is made up of 18 hexagonal segments made of beryllium metal and covered with gold to capture low infrared light.
“We will also see an example of how galaxies interact and grow,” said Klaus Pontopidan, a Webb scientist at the Space Telescope Research Institute.
“But we’re just scratching the surface.”
“In the beginning, we only have a few days to observe. We look forward to years of observation.
NASA will officially release the first images from the James Webb Telescope on July 12 at 10:30 a.m. EDT, and the event will be covered by the Daily Mail.
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