NASA unveiled four new images on Tuesday taken by the James Webb Telescope. This image shows the Carina Nebula. The Hutchings Museum in Lehi, selected by NASA as the official host of Webb events, held an event on Saturday to celebrate the first images from the telescope (NASA, ESA, CSA and STScI)
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LEHI — Recent images from the James Webb Space Telescope beamed around the world this week, showing detailed new pictures of galaxies and stars that show snapshots billions of years into the past.
The Hutchings Museum Institute in Lehi, selected by NASA as the official host of Webb events, celebrated Saturday the first images released by the James Webb Space Telescope and shared what can be learned through the telescope’s images.
Joshua Lotringer talks about the meaning of the photos and answers questions; he is an assistant professor of physics at Utah Valley University and will be the principal investigator of two Webb Space Telescope programs he proposed.
Lotringer said the Webb telescope project began about 20 years ago and was launched on Christmas morning in 2021. It took a month to deploy the mirrors and set up the camera — Lotringer said the telescope is the size of a tennis court and had to be folded up to be sent into space. He said there are many different things that could happen to cause the project to fail – 344 single points of failure – but everything is going perfectly.
The telescope is pointed from the ground into space and includes a substantial sun shield that keeps the side pointed at about minus 390 degrees, while the side facing the sun is about 260 degrees Fahrenheit.
At the presentation, Lotringer compared multiple images taken of the same area by the Hubble telescope and the Webb telescope, and explained that the Webb telescope reads infrared wavelengths—one reason it’s so cold is that it doesn’t read its own heat. The new telescope also has a mirror made of gold because gold reflects red light with long wavelengths well.
Because the telescope does not look in visible light, the images shared by NASA have colors that are interpreted from the colors seen in various infrared images.
The infrared images from Webb include a lot of additional information, including the composition of galaxies and stars and their distance from the telescope. The telescope showed galaxies that are so far away that we are looking at what happened more than 13.1 billion years ago, some of the first galaxies that followed the Big Bang, Lotringer said.
“Every moment the Web is telling you something … and of course there’s more to come,” he said.
Joshua Lotringer, a UVU assistant professor, talks about how the James Webb Space Telescope was launched and deployed into space at an event at the Hutchings Museum Institute on Saturday. (Photo: Emily Ashcraft, KSL)
The James Webb Space Telescope has enough fuel to orbit the sun outside Earth’s orbit for about twenty years, and each year scientists can submit proposals for the telescope to investigate something for them.
Lotringer had two proposals accepted, one studying brown dwarf stars and the other studying exoplanets. He explained that the information from the telescope is public, but when a particular person does research, that information is kept confidential for up to a year to allow them to research before it becomes public.
Anyone can go online to see a chart of where the telescope will be looking over the next week. Lothringer said he is currently observing a supernova.
After the presentation, the museum released a live discussion on YouTube with NASA scientists who viewed the photos.
Daniella Larsen, executive director of the Hutchings Museum Institute, said the museum is invested in sharing information about current research. She said there is much more to discover, both on earth and in space, and the fact that Webb is looking directly at events that happened in the past is interesting for a museum.
“This is a generational moment in space exploration,” Larsen said. “We are delighted to celebrate this great achievement with the community and our friends at NASA as the first detailed images from this wonderful telescope are released to the world.”
She said being involved in space exploration can inspire children and it’s good for them to have events where they can be engaged and curious. The museum has a NASA summer series with other space-related discussions in hopes of getting kids involved in bringing a spirit of exploration to Utah.
“These images show the universe as it was millions of years ago and literally allow us to see the past among our solar system, our galaxy and distant galaxies from the earliest times of the cosmos.” This research will reveal discoveries that are now unimaginable that will help propel our planet into the future,” Larsen said.
The building that houses the museum was built in 1919 by World War I veterans, but there are plans to add 70,000 square feet to the building, while preserving the historic front, by 2026; the city donated some land behind the building to accommodate the growth, Larsen said. She said they plan to continue partnering with NASA and National Geographic to provide interesting new exhibits.
She said the museum is unique because it is not a city, state or church museum and focuses on local history from many different cultures that have contributed to the state’s history.
This is a generational moment in the exploration of the universe.
– Daniela Larsen, Executive Director of the Hutchings Museum Institute
The Hutchings Museum Institute’s partnership with NASA provides access to continuing education and classroom resources for teachers, as well as the opportunity for teachers to bring students to the museum. It is part of NASA’s Joint Educator Engagement and Professional Development Program.
“The STEM Engagement Program is a great way for teachers to use the exciting information, projects and science collected through the Webb Telescope and used by NASA and other scientists around the world for their classrooms,” Larsen said.
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Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal issues, as well as health, faith and religion news.
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