{"id":11410,"date":"2022-07-11T19:14:41","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T11:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/webb-telescope-peers-deeper-into-the-universe-than-ever-before\/"},"modified":"2022-07-11T19:14:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T11:14:41","slug":"webb-telescope-peers-deeper-into-the-universe-than-ever-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/webb-telescope-peers-deeper-into-the-universe-than-ever-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Webb telescope peers deeper into the universe than ever before"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is the first science image released to the public from the James Webb Space Telescope, showing thousands of galaxies in the deepest ever look into the distant universe. Webb\u2019s NIRCam instrument captured this view in different wavelengths with exposures totaling 12.5 hours. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Biden unveiled the deepest ever look into the distant universe Monday with the release of the first full-color science image from the James Webb Space Telescope, showing thousands of faint galaxies and countless stars shining like lampposts in a tiny patch of the southern sky.<\/p>\n

The image shows SMACS 0723, a massive galaxy cluster visible from the Southern Hemisphere with immense gravity that can bend the light from much fainter background galaxies like a magnifying glass. Called gravitational lensing, this phenomenon can amplify the already powerful imaging sensitivity of a telescope like Webb, the largest observatory ever put into space.<\/p>\n

The result presented in the image released Monday was nothing short of spectacular. See a higher-resolution view of the image.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm\u2019s length, that is the part of the universe that you\u2019re seeing, just one little speck of the universe,\u201d said Bill Nelson, NASA\u2019s administrator, in a briefing at the White House with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. \u201cAnd what you\u2019re seeing there are galaxies, you\u2019re seeing galaxies that are shining around other galaxies whose light has been bent, and you\u2019re seeing just a small little portion of the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are thousands of galaxies in view around and behind SMACS 0723, including the faintest objects ever observed in infrared light.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking back more than 13 billion years,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cLight travels 186,000 miles per second, and that light that you are seeing on one of those little specks has been traveling for over 13 billion years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The early unveiling at the White House, announced late Sunday, came one day before the long-planned release date for the first Webb science images Tuesday, when officials from NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and other research institutions will reveal the observatory\u2019s first glimpse of a range of cosmic wonders.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an international collaboration, this telescope embodies how America leads the world, not by the example of our power but by the power of our example,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThese images are going to remind the world that America can do big things and remind the American people, especially our children, that there\u2019s nothing beyond our capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

After more than 20 years of design, development, assembly, and testing, the James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas Day on top of a European Ariane 5 rocket, and arrived at its operating orbit nearly a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth in January. Since launch, the $10 billion observatory opened its mirror and sunshield, allowing its instrument detectors to cool down to cryogenic temperatures, not far above absolute zero.<\/p>\n

Over the last few months, ground teams have calibrated Webb\u2019s four science instruments and aligned the telescope\u2019s mirror segments. The last of the telescope\u2019s 17 observing modes was declared ready for scientific operations Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stuck to it, and it got made, and it\u2019s there,\u201d said Mark McCaughrean, a senior advisor at ESA and an interdisciplinary scientist on Webb. \u201cNot only did it survive the launch, and it got into space, and not only did it deploy, but it performs. There are reasons to think it\u2019s actually performing better than expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webb\u2019s segmented primary mirror \u2014 with a diameter of 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) \u2014 is the largest ever put into space. The mirror\u2019s light collecting power, coupled with its sensitive, super-cold detectors, allow Webb to peer deeper into the universe \u2014 and farther back in time \u2014 than humans have ever seen before.<\/p>\n

Before Webb, the Hubble Space Telescope was the benchmark for space-based astronomical observatories. Launched in 1990 with a mirror a third the size of Webb\u2019s, Hubble\u2019s suite of instruments observing in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light wooed astronomers with views of distant galaxies, colorful clouds of gas in star-forming nebulas, and provided measurements of the expansion rate of the universe.<\/p>\n