The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope that focuses on infrared astronomy. The telescope was developed by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The JWST was launched on an ESA Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on December 25, 2021, and is set to follow the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA’s premier astrophysics mission. The telescope is named after NASA Administrator James E. Webb, who served from 1961 to 1968 and oversaw the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.
It has better-infrared resolution and sensitivity than Hubble, allowing it to see objects up to 100 times fainter than Hubble can detect. This is expected to open up a wide range of astronomical and cosmological investigations, including observations up to redshift z20 of some of the Universe’s oldest and most distant objects and events (such as the formation of the first galaxies) and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.
The James Webb Space Telescope has seen its first star (though it wasn’t quite tonight) – and even took a selfie, NASA announced Friday, February 11, 2022.
The first picture reveals that the beauty of Cosmos is above perfection. 18 blurry white dots on a black background, all showing the same object: HD 84406 a bright, isolated star in the constellation Ursa Major. The major point to have cared is: 18 dots were captured by the primary mirror’s 18 individual segments and the image is now the basis for aligning and focusing those hexagonal pieces. The light bounced off the segments to Webb’s secondary mirror and then to the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam).
“We were so happy to see that might make its way into NIRCam,” said Marcia Rieke, principal investigator for the NIRCam instrument. Webb’s initial search covered an area of the sky about equal to the size of the full Moon, the dots were located near the center portion, meaning the observatory is already relatively well-positioned for final alignment. To aid the process, the team also captured a “selfie” taken not through an externally mounted camera but through a special lens onboard NIRCam. NASA had previously said a selfie wasn’t possible, hence it is a bonus for space lovers. James Webb Telescope will begin its science mission by summer, which includes using its high-resolution instruments to peer back in time almost 14 billion years to the first generation of galaxies, formed after the Big Bang. The study of distant planets, their origin, evolution and habitability, and many more are included in the mission.
Thank you Suwarna Pyakurel, +2-SOS HGS Sanothimi