During a briefing at the White House on July 11, United States President Joe Biden revealed the first image from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). its acronym in English), calling it a “new window on the history of our universe”.
Dubbed “Webb’s First Deep Field,” the first image taken by the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built marks the first time humans can see the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 five billion light-years away. just as they appeared about 4.6 billion years ago, when the light from their stars and that reflected by other celestial bodies began their journey to Earth.
The first image from the Webb Space Telescope represents a historic moment for science and technology. For astronomy and space exploration.
And for America and all humanity. pic.twitter.com/cI2UUQcQXj
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 11, 2022
The first image from the Webb Space Telescope represents a historic moment for science and technology. For astronomy and space exploration. And for America and all mankind.
The JWST is an international collaboration led by NASA with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Launched on December 25, 2021, the powerful telescope has traveled millions of kilometers to reach a point, at a safe distance from Earth, from where it can make observations of the cosmos like never before, to reveal mysteries in our system. solar panel and explore the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.
The long-exposure image was made in about a day of Webb activity. With vivid detail never before achieved, he was able to capture light sources up to 100 times dimmer than the ability of its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.
The presentation of the historic postcard took place shortly after 6:00 p.m. on July 11, in Washington DC, as a first for the press conference scheduled for July 12 in which NASA and its international partners launched the complete series of other images, providing additional scientific information about the observed celestial bodies and the conditions of the James Webb Space Telescope.
WASP-96b
Exoplanet WASP-96 b, a hot gas giant located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth and one of more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy, was detected in the atmosphere by James Webb.
The indirect image captured the distinctive signature of water, along with evidence of clouds and haze in the surrounding atmosphere, which were thought not to exist based on previous observations, which turned out to be a surprise, since the planet is much more bulging, significantly hotter than any planet orbiting Earth’s sun. Also, it is too close to its star to have water in its atmosphere.
South Ring or “Eight Explosions”
The Southern Ring or “Eight Bangs” is a planetary nebula that was previously hidden from astronomers. The expanding cloud of gas surrounding a dying star is approximately two thousand light-years distant from Earth.
The star in the center has been sending out rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions and appears shrouded in dust for the first time. Observations with the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which is Webb’s main imager, also revealed extremely fine beams of light around the planetary nebula.
Stephan’s Quintet
In an image released by members of the European Space Agency (ESA), Stephan’s Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, is seen in a new light, some 290 million light-years away.
Webb’s data, with its powerful infrared vision and extremely high spatial resolution, reveals “never before seen” details in the galaxy group and galactic interactions.
Carina Nebula (NGC 3324)
The final image showed the brilliant view of the Carina Nebula, named NGC 3324, a stellar nursery, with massive stars larger than the sun and previously completely hidden.
Within the Milky Way, the Carina Nebula is about 7,600 light-years distant from Earth. The “Cosmic Cliffs” captured by Webb are the edge of the gigantic gaseous cavity within the star-forming region of NGC 3324.