Finally, we have hints about what the first operational images from NASA’s deep-space observatory will be.
Among the first images obtained by the $ 10 billion James Webb Space Telescope will be “the deepest image of our universe ever made,” according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Although he did not specify which objects from the early universe the Web would focus on, or how old these targets were, Nelson suggested that the image would show the earliest objects still visible. “This is further than humanity has seen before, and we are just beginning to understand what the Web can and will do,” he added.
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The new Web image could replace a series of deep-field images of the Hubble Space Telescope showing galaxies in our universe formed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, which occurred about 13.7 billion years ago.
Nelson spoke at a media event at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which manages Webb’s operations. NASA is using the media event to discuss the upcoming launch of an operational image of the Web on July 12, along with the scope of science the observatory will conduct at the beginning of its mandate, including solar system objects, exoplanets, the early universe and a number of targets. .
Another image coming this day will be the first spectrum of the Web from an exoplanet, according to Thomas Zurbuchen, an associate administrator of NASA’s scientific missions directorate, who spoke at the same event. Such spectra, which measure the amount of light emitted at certain wavelengths, usually give hints about the chemistry of the planet, which point to the history of its formation.
A comparison of views of the same part of the sky, as seen by NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope. (Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech (left), NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI (right))
“We will look at these worlds there that keep us awake at night as we look at the starry sky and wonder … is there life elsewhere?” Zurbuchen said of the cornerstone. (However, the web is optimized to view large gas giant planets and will probably not be able to get too much information from rocky worlds that could accommodate life as we know it, based on past data from the consortium.)
The first NASA scientific-quality images from the observatory will be released on July 12 at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) and will be broadcast live here on Space.com along with NASA’s website and social media channels. (Some Webb partners have also engaged in events or webcasts, such as the Canadian Space Agency.)
Webb completes the test of its four scientific instruments for work after the space launch on December 25, 2021.
You can follow along with the checklist of tools on NASA’s “Where is Webb” website (opens in a new section). The full list of the first series of Web observations is available on this website (opens in a new section) from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which manages Webb’s operations.
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