- Jonathan Amos
- BBC Science Correspondent
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team
Tarantula Nebula: 161,000 light-years from Earth where thousands of stars are born
The space telescope shows humans our unknown scenes in the universe, and the pictures it sends back are nothing less than a $10 billion gift to the earth.
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched into space a year ago on Christmas Day, but the planning, design and construction of the space telescope continued for more than 30 years.
Many have wondered whether the successor to the famed Hubble Space Telescope will live up to the hype, and we’ll have to wait a few months to find out.
At that time, the James Webb Space Telescope will deploy and focus its 6.5-meter primary mirror, and perform debugging tests on its other systems.
But the answer is yes, the James Webb Telescope will meet all expectations for it. US, European and Canadian space agencies celebrated in July, during which they unveiled the first color images. What we see here are some pictures published later that you may not have seen.
Regarding the James Webb Space Telescope, we must first be clear that it is an infrared telescope. The space telescope observes wavelengths of light that the human eye cannot distinguish.
Astronomers use different lenses on the telescope to explore different regions of the universe, such as those columnar nebulae of gas and dust that Hubble regularly observes. In these deep cosmic contours, it would take years to get from one side to the other, even at the speed of light.
Carina Nebula (Carina Nebula)
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
Known to the north as the “cosmic cliff,” this nebula lies within a massive cavernous nebula known as the Carina Rim, a region of nova formation.
Nebulae there are illuminated by intense ultraviolet light from hot novae.
The distance from one side of the image to the other is about 15 light-years. One light year is equivalent to 9.46 trillion kilometers.
Cartwheel Galaxy
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team
The giant galaxy was first discovered by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in the 1940s. The galaxy’s complex wheel structure is the result of a head-on collision with another galaxy. The wheel-shaped shape measures 145,000 light-years in diameter!
Neptune
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
The James Webb Telescope has not only probed into the depths of the universe, it has also focused on the planets of the solar system. Among the most prized photographs it has taken are images of the sun’s eighth planet, Neptune, and its rings. The small white dot in the picture is Neptune’s moon, and it is also its moon that is illuminated by the light in the above picture. That’s Neptune’s largest natural satellite, Triton. Triton’s light is formed by the reflective system on the James Webb Telescope.
Orion Nebula
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI-PDRs4All ERS Team
The Orion Nebula is one of the most well-known regions in space. That’s the star-forming place, or nebula, about 1,350 light-years from Earth. In this image, the James Webb Telescope captures the Orion Bar, a dense wall of cosmic gas and dust.
Twin Stars (Dimorphos)
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/C.Thomas/I.Wong
In one of the biggest space topics of the year, NASA’s spacecraft hit a meteorite known as Dimorphos to see if it was possible to de-orbit the 160-meter-wide meteorite. This is part of a plan to protect Earth from the threat of meteorites. The James Webb Telescope captured the moment of impact as 1,000 tons of debris were scattered by the impact.
WR-140
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/JPL-Caltech
This is one of the most interesting images captured by the James Webb Telescope this year. WR is an abbreviation for Wolf-Rayet, which refers to a certain class of stars, that is, huge stars at the end of their lives. Wolf-Rayet stars emit huge plumes of gas that wind their way into the depths of space. Pictured is an unseen companion star that compresses the wind, creating a cloud of cosmic dust. The visible shell of morning fog extends over 10 trillion kilometers. This distance is equivalent to 70,000 times the distance from the earth to the sun.
phantom galaxy
image source,NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
Also known as the Phantom Galaxy, M74 is famous for its eerie spiral arms. Located about 32 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces, it faces Earth so that the James Webb Telescope has a perfect view of its arms and structure. The James Webb Telescope’s detectors are particularly good at picking up hints of cosmic gas and dust.
image source,NASA
An artist’s impression of the James Webb Telescope in space.The telescope has another 20 years to go