The scientific and astronomical community is eagerly awaiting Tuesday, July 12th to arrive. This is the day NASA promises to release the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)! According to a previous NASA statement, these images will include the deepest views of the Universe ever taken, as well as spectra taken from an exoplanet’s atmosphere. In another statement from a recent press conference, it was reported that the images were so beautiful they almost brought Thomas Zarbuchen – Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) to tears! The James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful and complex observatory ever developed, not to mention the most expensive, at $10 billion! Because of its complex mirror system and advanced sun shield, the telescope had to be designed so that it could be folded (origami style) to fit inside a payload fairing and then unfold once it reached space. To ensure everything would work, the telescope had to be rigorously tested, a process that caused many delays and cost overruns (a situation exacerbated by the COVID pandemic). Sharply focused mechanical star images in each instrument’s field of view show that the telescope is fully aligned and focused. Credit: NASA/STScI Since launching on Christmas Day 2021, the observatory has successfully deployed, deployed its science instruments and reached the L2 Lagrange point, where it will remain for its entire mission. It also successfully aligned all 18 of its segment mirrors, which are arranged in a honeycomb configuration that is 6.5 meters (more than 21 feet) in diameter – nearly three times the size of Hubble’s primary mirror. Previously, NASA released test images taken by JWST of a star 2,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major (HD 84406). According to Zurbuchen, who viewed the images during a Wednesday briefing with other NASA officials, the first-light images he received provide a “new worldview” of the universe. Addressing what it was like to see the images first light at Wednesday’s press conference, Zarbuchen said: “Images are being taken at this time. There is already some amazing science in the box, and some more is yet to be received as we move forward. We’re in the middle of the story creation data reduction. It’s really hard not to look at the Universe in a new light and not just have a deeply personal moment. It’s an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly release some of its secrets, and I’d like you to imagine and look forward to it.” During the press conference, NASA officials said the images and other data will include the deepest field image of the Universe ever taken. The previous record holder was the image obtained as part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, which included 10,000 galaxies of various ages, colors and distances in the direction of the constellation Fornax. The 100 oldest galaxies in the image (shown below) appear deep red and date back just 800 million years after the Big Bang, making them the most distant and oldest ever seen. This view of nearly 10,000 galaxies is called the Hubble Deep Field. Credits: NASA, ESA and S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF team James Webb’s images look even further into the universe and reveal what galaxies looked like just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. These early galaxies were instrumental in breaking up the ‘Cosmic Dark Ages’, a period when the Universe was saturated with neutral hydrogen atoms and therefore invisible to modern instruments. Astronomers know what the Universe looked like just before this time, thanks to the remnant radiation from the Big Bang, which is visible to our instruments – the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). As a result, astronomers have not been able to see what the first galaxies looked like since their formation coincided with the dark ages. But thanks to its advanced infrared imaging capabilities, James Webb can pierce the veil of “darkness” and see what galaxies originally looked like. This will allow scientists to model and simulate the evolution of cosmic structures much more precisely, which could also provide new insight into the role of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in cosmic evolution. Another picture will give the audience something else they haven’t seen before (which James Webb is perfect for providing). This image will show an exoplanet, as well as spectral data from its atmosphere taken by the Advanced Spectrograph Suite. These instruments allow astronomers to observe chemical signatures from an exoplanet by observing how light is absorbed (and at what wavelengths) in its atmosphere. These signatures will reveal the composition of the atmosphere, which could include oxygen gas, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, the very things we associate with “habitability.” Even more exciting, these same observations could reveal traces of methane gas, ammonia, and other chemical telltale signs of biological processes we associate with life (aka “biosignatures”). Last but not least, the presence of chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons and others we associate with industrial processes could be seen as evidence of advanced life (aka “technosignatures”). In short, James Webb’s images will allow astronomers to model the evolution of the universe, place tighter constraints on which exoplanets are “habitable,” and could even reveal that humanity is not alone in the Universe. There are many other things that James Webb will study during its primary science activities (which will last until 2028) and its 10-year mission (which is expected to extend to 20 years). This would include the dust and gas that make up the interstellar medium (ISM), debris disks around young stars, planetary systems in the process of formation, cooler objects such as M-type stars (red dwarfs) and brown dwarfs, and the center of the Milky Way. of the Galaxy. And it all starts with these “first light” images, which NASA says it plans to release on July 12, starting at 10:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT). According to NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, those first images were emotionally overwhelming for her as well. “What I have seen has moved me, as a scientist, as an engineer and as a human being,” he said. While the rest of us will have to wait another eight days, the teasers we’ve been treated to suggest that the years of delays, retests and cost overruns will be worth it! You can view the images by going to NASA’s JWST mission page. Originally published on Universe Today.
