The first official processed image of the James Webb Space Telescope is presented at an event held at the White House, headquarters of the US government, at 18:30 (Brasília). Watch it live, with simultaneous translation by the Sidereal Messenger, in the video below.
Celebrated as Hubble’s “spiritual successor” in the sense that it will allow us to see even further than was possible with the most famous astronomical satellite in history, the James Webb Space Telescope is the result of a partnership between NASA, ESA and CSA, respectively. American, European and Canadian space agencies. The US, majority partners in the venture, spent about $10 billion on the project over two decades, until it was launched, years late, in December 2021.
Since then, the large telescope (with a primary mirror measuring 6.5 meters in diameter) has made a journey to its operational orbit, about 1.5 million km from Earth, and has gone through a series of steps to assemble and calibrate mirrors and instruments, until he became able to carry out scientific observations.
The image presented at the White House, possibly from the Webb’s deep field, is the first of a set of six that NASA will present this Tuesday (12), at 11:30 am. The other five targets to be presented have already been announced. Are they:
Carina Nebula: One of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky, located about 7,600 light-years from Earth. It is a large stellar nursery, home to many high-mass stars, much larger than the Sun.
WASP-96b: A gas giant exoplanet, about half the mass of Jupiter, that orbits its star completing one revolution in just 3.4 days. Discovered in 2014, it is an ideal target for atmospheric studies. Webb will not bring up an image of the planet, but a spectrum – the “signature” of light that will allow us to determine the composition of its atmosphere.
Southern Ring Nebula: This is a planetary nebula, the name given to the expanding cloud produced by the death of a star. It is, in that sense, the opposite of the Carina nebula, which is a nursery of stars. About half a light-year in diameter and located some 2,000 light-years from Earth, the Southern Ring Nebula should look particularly charming under the Webb’s infrared gaze.
Stephan’s Quintet: Jumping to extragalactic targets, Stephan’s Quintet is a group of galaxies located about 290 million light-years from here in the constellation Pegasus. It was the first compact group of galaxies discovered, in 1877 by French astronomer Édouard Stephan, and features four of five galaxies locked in a cosmic dance of frequent close encounters.
SMACS 0732: Clusters of galaxies that produce a powerful gravitational lens, capable of revealing and magnifying much more distant objects located behind them – offering a unique chance to see some of the oldest and most remote stars in the universe.
The release of these first images, this Tuesday (12), marks the official beginning of scientific operations with Webb – although in theory he is already working on them. As with other telescopes, targets are selected based on a competitive process among astronomers, who propose observation programs evaluated by a committee of experts.
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