NASA has announced the date on which the first full-color images from the new James Webb Space Telescope will be released. Together with the ESA (European Space Agency), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), NASA will release images as well as spectroscopic data on July 12, 2022.
James Webb has been undergoing alignment and calibration since its launch in December 2021, a complex series of processes involving making minor adjustments to the telescope’s 18 main mirror segments and checking the sensitivity of each of the four instruments. So far, a number of calibration images have been released, which have been used in the process of preparing the instruments for scientific operations. But the date in July is when the first full-color images will be released, which are expected to be much more impressive and attractive.
“As we near the end of the Observatory’s preparations for science, we are facing the abyss of an incredibly exciting period of discovery for our universe. The release of the first full-color images on the Web will offer a unique moment for all of us to stop and marvel at a sight never before seen by humanity, “said Eric Smith, a Webb scientist, in a statement from NASA. “These images will be the culmination of decades of dedication, talent and dreams – but they will be just the beginning.”
The sites that Webb will study have already been selected by an international commission in a long selection process. Projects to be explored in the first year of the Web include exploring Jupiter and its rings and moons, studying how stars form, and examining the earliest galaxies to provide clues to the universe when it was very young. .
NASA has not announced exactly what objects will be shown in the first images, but the agency said it would release a “package” of materials related to key topics the Web will explore, including the early universe, the evolution of galaxies over time, life cycle of stars and other worlds. ” In addition to images, there will be spectroscopic data that use light to identify the chemical composition of objects.
Even with all the preparation required to launch a telescope, it is difficult for researchers to know exactly how much its instruments will be until they start using them, explained Joseph DePasquale of STScI: “Of course, there are things we expect and hope for. to see, but with a new telescope and this new high-resolution infrared data, we just won’t understand until we see it. ”
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