On July 12, 2022, the American space agency unveiled the first color images of its new space observatory. The event marked the beginning of the scientific operation of this jewel of technology, which is developing 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
“In just a year, the James Webb Telescope has transformed the way humanity sees the cosmos,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a statement. “Each new image is a discovery, encouraging scientists around the world to ask and answer questions they never dreamed of before.” To mark the first anniversary, NASA has planned to host a live video webcast on the Internet to come back this year of discoveries.
This is the beginning
For a year now, James Webb has been delighting astronomers with images of unprecedented precision. He observed the most distant galaxy ever discovered, supermassive black holes, measured the temperatures of the rocky planets, Earth’s “cousins” for the first time, and even began to analyze the atmosphere. The stream of scientific studies derived from his observations is constant.
One of the telescope’s main tasks is to study the very young Universe, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Another important research focus: the study of exoplanets, i.e. planets outside the solar system. It should also help to better understand the formation and life cycle of stars.
In addition to these achievements, the general public could enjoy magnificent images. In October, James Webb unveiled his first image of the iconic “Pillars of Creation,” huge structures of gas and dust filled with forming stars 6,500 light-years from Earth in our Milky Way.
The flight of this $10 billion airborne observatory aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in late 2021 was the culmination of decades of work.
It is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, which itself is still in operation. Unlike Hubble, which observes the universe primarily in the visible spectrum, James Webb operates in the infrared. This allows him to see much dimmer lights and therefore see much further. Because this wavelength is imperceptible to the human eye, the images are then “translated” into visible colors.
Lots of fuel
The region captured by the image published on Wednesday is “completely dark when observed with Hubble,” Klaus Pontoppidan specified on Twitter.
James Webb has enough fuel to last 20 years.
Researchers around the world can book observing time with the telescope, which is carefully planned in one-year increments.
“We selected an ambitious set of observations for the second year based on everything we’ve learned so far,” said Jane Rigby of NASA’s Goddard Space Center. “James Webb’s scientific mission has only just begun.”