James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Installation Reaches Halfway Point (http://www.universetoday.com/123792/james-webb-space-telescope-mirror-installation-reaches-halfway-point/)
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.wp.com%2Fwww.universetoday.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F12%2Fmirror9a-jwst.jpg&hash=24bae390647778b720ba805f7052f51121e2395a)
After Hubble you can bet your life this one will have been tested to death!
EDIT: Generalised the thread title.
That thing is spectacular. It is a testament to the human dedication to discovery. I am justifiably proud of that small segment of humanity that has developed the science and the intellect to make such things possible.
Well tomorrow, 25th Dec 2021, the JWST should go into space!
Quote from: Tank on December 29, 2015, 05:13:42 PM
After Hubble you can bet your life this one will have been tested to death!
i think the most impressive thing about the hubble project was that they were able to fix it
Quote from: billy rubin on December 24, 2021, 02:32:47 PM
Quote from: Tank on December 29, 2015, 05:13:42 PM
After Hubble you can bet your life this one will have been tested to death!
i think the most impressive thing about the hubble project was that they were able to fix it
I agree. The optics that they used for the correction were/are the most accurate ever made.
I am a bit confused about the schedule for the Launch of that spectacular piece of scientific endeavor. According to news, spread of the separate leaves are being tested to determine the dependability of the machine to do what it is supposed to do.
The leaves of the golden mirror must be folded so as to fit inside the rocket body that will deliver it some one and a half million miles into space. The last I read was that the actual launch is scheduled for some time in October 2022. The hugely expensive project of 30 years of expense and effort had damned well better get it right the first time. The involved individuals are being more than extremely careful about the whole deal.
I used to work in aerospace and defense. The launch of booster vehicles and the deployment of payloads is a very mature technology. Then again, things can go wrong in a myriad of ways. Knowing the people who worked on the alignment and deployment efforts over the years, it should be OK.
Almost time!
14 minutes to launch.
It's up and safe so far!
I have obviously misread the launch date from a BBC source. My Bad.
Hooray, it is on its' way.
Quote from: Icarus on December 25, 2021, 09:27:50 PM
I have obviously misread the launch date from a BBC source. My Bad.
Hooray, it is on its' way.
No, it was supposed to go up earlier. The most recent delay was a catch that snapped open and subjected the telescope to 'unexpected shock'. So it had to be checked over.
Glad it got safely out of our gravity well. It appears to be carrying on with the "two weeks of terror (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59138682)" in good fettle as well. Touch wood. ;)
A successful deployment. :dance:
"Webb Space Telescope's 'Golden Eye' Opens, Last Major Hurdle" |
Voice of America (https://www.voanews.com/a/webb-space-telescope-s-golden-eye-opens-last-major-hurdle/6388457.html)
Quote
NASA's new space telescope opened its huge, gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror Saturday, the final step in the observatory's dramatic unfurling.
The last portion of the 6.5-meter (21-foot) mirror swung into place at flight controllers' command, completing the unfolding of the James Webb Space Telescope.
"I'm emotional about it. What an amazing milestone. We see that beautiful pattern out there in the sky now," said Thomas Zurbuchen, chief of NASA's science missions.
More powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, the $10 billion Webb will scan the cosmos for light streaming from the first stars and galaxies formed 13.7 billion years ago. To accomplish this, NASA had to outfit Webb with the largest and most sensitive mirror ever launched—its "golden eye," as scientists call it.
Webb is so big that it had to be folded origami-style to fit in the rocket that soared from South America two weeks ago. The riskiest operation occurred earlier in the week, when the tennis court-size sunshield unfurled, providing subzero shade for the mirror and infrared detectors.
Flight controllers in Baltimore began opening the primary mirror Friday, unfolding the left side like a drop-leaf table. The mood was even more upbeat Saturday, with peppy music filling the control room as the right side snapped into place. After applauding, the controllers immediately got back to work, latching everything down. They jumped to their feet and cheered when the operation was finally complete two hours later.
[Continues . . . (https://www.voanews.com/a/webb-space-telescope-s-golden-eye-opens-last-major-hurdle/6388457.html)]
:love: :frolic: :frolic: :frolic: :frolic: :frolic: :love:
The Webb telescope is by all measures, a magnificent human achievement.
If it works as intended, there may be some serious kickback. Many individuals will resist learning that the Genisis tale of the Christian bible, is not an accurate account of the way that our earth began.
The machine has already gotten the descriptive moniker, Golden Eye.
Quote from: Icarus on January 12, 2022, 12:13:22 AM
The Webb telescope is by all measures, a magnificent human achievement.
If it works as intended, there may be some serious kickback. Many individuals will resist learning that the Genisis tale of the Christian bible, is not an accurate account of the way that our earth began.
The machine has already gotten the descriptive moniker, Golden Eye.
are you familiar with lastthursdayism, icarus?
its a logically necessary foundation of special creation that illustrates why creationism can never be proven wrong, or any other formayion theory be proven right.
creationists are generally too ignorant to be aware of it, but they should be
I continue to learn from my HAF peers. No, I have no familiarity with the term, Lastthursdayism. I gotta google that previously oblivious concept.
Learning stuff is part of the reason that I like it here. True even if Billy is pulling my leg, which is a possibility of course. :)
no, lastthursdayism is cinsidered a joke by people who dont think carefully about creationism and its implications. but its dead serious, and is why a creation story such as that of the jews cannot be refuted scientifically. real special creation is impervious to geology, radiometric dating, cosmology and so on.
i veneralky dont bring it upbecause people get pissed off when their sacred cow isnt respected, but i lapsed here
This file shows the details of the pre-operation cooling progress.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20205010662/downloads/SPIE%20Commissioning%20Presentation%20Feinberg%5B1%5D%20%20-%20%20Read-Only.pptx.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2CafDrX-m8L071qpBinun0hJQRwKHezm2ndP9CNNZ-1c7cdYWylgYKT1M
The Webb telescope is now fully aligned optically, a major step toward full operation.
"NASA's Webb Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working Successfully" |
NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-reaches-alignment-milestone-optics-working-successfully)
Quote(https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/telescope_alignment_evaluation_image_labeled.png)
Following the completion of critical mirror alignment steps, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope team expects that Webb's optical performance will be able to meet or exceed the science goals the observatory was built to achieve.
On March 11, the Webb team completed the stage of alignment known as "fine phasing." At this key stage in the commissioning of Webb's Optical Telescope Element, every optical parameter that has been checked and tested is performing at, or above, expectations. The team also found no critical issues and no measurable contamination or blockages to Webb's optical path. The observatory is able to successfully gather light from distant objects and deliver it to its instruments without issue.
Although there are months to go before Webb ultimately delivers its new view of the cosmos, achieving this milestone means the team is confident that Webb's first-of-its-kind optical system is working as well as possible.
"More than 20 years ago, the Webb team set out to build the most powerful telescope that anyone has ever put in space and came up with an audacious optical design to meet demanding science goals," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Today we can say that design is going to deliver."
While some of the largest ground-based telescopes on Earth use segmented primary mirrors, Webb is the first telescope in space to use such a design. The 21-foot, 4-inch (6.5-meter) primary mirror – much too big to fit inside a rocket fairing – is made up of 18 hexagonal, beryllium mirror segments. It had to be folded up for launch and then unfolded in space before each mirror was adjusted – to within nanometers – to form a single mirror surface.
[Continues . . . (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-reaches-alignment-milestone-optics-working-successfully)]
This is one of the things the USA can do well. Wish we would fund more of this stuff than the things we flub up on so often.
" . . . adjusted to within nanometers?"
many nanometers, i think.
Single-digit nanometer adjustment capability-
jeez
Wicked cool science and engineering, eh?
Indeed, and thanks for that video. In the comments the engineer who wrote the paper that the videographer used to replicate the actuator tells us that the original model was built with Legos. :smokin cool:
That's way cheaper than even using a 3-D printer! Smart move on their part.
The GIF below shows the contrast between the previous best infrared space telescope and the infrared capabilities of the Webb telescope.
(https://i.imgur.com/DLwCpkr.gif)
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
"MIRI's Sharper View Hints at New Possibilities for Science" |
NASA (https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/05/09/miris-sharper-view-hints-at-new-possibilities-for-science/)
QuoteNASA's James Webb Space Telescope is aligned across all four of its science instruments, as seen in a previous engineering image showing the observatory's full field of view. Now, we take a closer look at that same image, focusing on Webb's coldest instrument: the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI.
The MIRI test image (at 7.7 microns) shows part of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way provided a dense star field to test Webb's performance.
Here, a close-up of the MIRI image is compared to a past image of the same target taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (at 8.0 microns). The retired Spitzer telescope was one of NASA's Great Observatories and the first to provide high-resolution images of the near- and mid-infrared universe. Webb, with its significantly larger primary mirror and improved detectors, will allow us to see the infrared sky with improved clarity, enabling even more discoveries.
[Continues . . . (https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/05/09/miris-sharper-view-hints-at-new-possibilities-for-science/)]
Quote from: Recusant on May 10, 2022, 10:58:16 PMThe GIF below shows the contrast between the previous best infrared space telescope and the infrared capabilities of the Webb telescope.
(https://i.imgur.com/DLwCpkr.gif)
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
That one star a bit to the right and below the topmost one of them bright stars... Where did the high-res scope do away with it? HM?! Where, I ask?! >:(
Quote from: Asmodean on May 16, 2022, 09:22:03 AMQuote from: Recusant on May 10, 2022, 10:58:16 PMThe GIF below shows the contrast between the previous best infrared space telescope and the infrared capabilities of the Webb telescope.
(https://i.imgur.com/DLwCpkr.gif)
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
That one star a bit to the right and below the topmost one of them bright stars... Where did the high-res scope do away with it? HM?! Where, I ask?! >:(
Yes, that area of the image is intriguing--regrettably the article doesn't address it.
The Asmo hereby suspects some sort of star-death event OR a bad pixel or some such tech voodoo OR having been cheated by the old scope. And/or the new one. :grrr:
The interplanetary medium has christened the Webb telescope. Bashed it with a speck of dust travelling at extremely high speed.
"Webb: Engineered to Endure Micrometeoroid Impacts" |
NASA (https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/06/08/webb-engineered-to-endure-micrometeoroid-impacts/)
QuoteMicrometeoroid strikes are an unavoidable aspect of operating any spacecraft, which routinely sustain many impacts over the course of long and productive science missions in space. Between May 23 and 25, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope sustained an impact to one of its primary mirror segments. After initial assessments, the team found the telescope is still performing at a level that exceeds all mission requirements despite a marginally detectable effect in the data. Thorough analysis and measurements are ongoing. Impacts will continue to occur throughout the entirety of Webb's lifetime in space; such events were anticipated when building and testing the mirror on the ground. After a successful launch, deployment, and telescope alignment, Webb's beginning-of-life performance is still well above expectations, and the observatory is fully capable of performing the science it was designed to achieve.
Webb's mirror was engineered to withstand bombardment from the micrometeoroid environment at its orbit around Sun-Earth L2 of dust-sized particles flying at extreme velocities. While the telescope was being built, engineers used a mixture of simulations and actual test impacts on mirror samples to get a clearer idea of how to fortify the observatory for operation in orbit. This most recent impact was larger than was modeled, and beyond what the team could have tested on the ground.
[Continues . . . (https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/06/08/webb-engineered-to-endure-micrometeoroid-impacts/)]
All cooled down and ready to work. ;D
"The James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to do science – and it's seeing the universe more clearly than even its own engineers hoped for" |
The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/the-james-webb-space-telescope-is-finally-ready-to-do-science-and-its-seeing-the-universe-more-clearly-than-even-its-own-engineers-hoped-for-184989)
QuoteAfter the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope on Dec. 25, 2021, the team began the long process of moving the telescope into its final orbital position, unfolding the telescope and – as everything cooled – calibrating the cameras and sensors onboard.
The launch went as smoothly as a rocket launch can go. One of the first things my colleagues at NASA noticed was that the telescope had more remaining fuel onboard than predicted to make future adjustments to its orbit. This will allow Webb to operate for much longer than the mission's initial 10-year goal.
[Detailed description of instruments coming online.]
As of June 15, 2022, all of Webb's instruments are on and have taken their first images. Additionally, four imaging modes, three time series modes and three spectroscopic modes have been tested and certified, leaving just three to go.
On July 12, NASA plans to release a suite of teaser observations that illustrate Webb's capabilities. These will show the beauty of Webb imagery and also give astronomers a real taste of the quality of data they will receive.
After July 12, the James Webb Space Telescope will start working full time on its science mission. The detailed schedule for the coming year hasn't yet been released, but astronomers across the world are eagerly waiting to get the first data back from the most powerful space telescope ever built.
[Link to full article. (https://theconversation.com/the-james-webb-space-telescope-is-finally-ready-to-do-science-and-its-seeing-the-universe-more-clearly-than-even-its-own-engineers-hoped-for-184989)]
The first serious image from the Webb telescope is in the major news outlets, but deserves a spot in this thread.
(https://i.imgur.com/omiy8s8.jpg)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
"NASA's Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet" |
NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-delivers-deepest-infrared-image-of-universe-yet)
QuoteNASA's James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb's First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.
Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb's view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length by someone on the ground.
This deep field, taken by Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours – achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope's deepest fields, which took weeks.
The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb's NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies' masses, ages, histories, and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe.
This image is among the telescope's first-full color images. The full suite will be released Tuesday, July 12, beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT, during a live NASA TV broadcast. Learn more about how to watch (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-updates-coverage-for-webb-telescope-s-first-images-reveal).
[Link to NASA page (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-delivers-deepest-infrared-image-of-universe-yet)]
Possible image of the most distant (and therefore oldest) galaxy yet observed, from the Webb telescope. Just a red blob, but its light comes to us across an immense expanse of space.
"Webb telescope may have already found most distant known galaxy" |
Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2022-07-webb-telescope-distant-galaxy.html)
QuoteJust a week after its first images were shown to the world, the James Webb Space Telescope may have found a galaxy that existed 13.5 billion years ago, a scientist who analyzed the data said Wednesday.
Known as GLASS-z13, the galaxy dates back to 300 million years after the Big Bang, about 100 million years earlier than anything previously identified, Rohan Naidu of the Harvard Center for Astrophysics told AFP.
"We're potentially looking at the most distant starlight that anyone has ever seen," he said.
[Continues . . . (https://phys.org/news/2022-07-webb-telescope-distant-galaxy.html)]
A pre-print version of the paper is available:
"Two Remarkably Luminous Galaxy Candidates at
z ≈ 11 − 13 Revealed by
JWST" |
arxiv (https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.09434.pdf)
I just heard that the Webb telescope was damaged. It was hit by a micrometeoroid.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/james-webb-telescope-faces-damage-micrometeoroid-hit
oops
A micrometeoroid that hit the James Webb Space Telescope in May caused a "significant uncorrectable change" to one of its panels used to observe deep space.
So far, Webb has faced at least six deformations on its main mirror panels that have been traced to micrometeoroid strikes, but five of those degradations were negligible or correctable by adjusting the processing formulas, per NASA. The strike in May, however, does not appear to be correctable and slightly reduces the breadth of accurate data the telescope can collect.
They have no plans to make service visits to it, as far as I have been able to find. It's a long ride out there--1.6 million kilometers. They don't know how common this sort of impact will be in that orbit, either. Meanwhile, it's performing splendidly. :dance:
I read that the one image you posted is a picture of a sector of space equivalent to the area behind a grain of sand held at arm's length. That is simply incomprehensible.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 26, 2022, 01:20:07 AMI read that the one image you posted is a picture of a sector of space equivalent to the area behind a grain of sand held at arm's length. That is simply incomprehensible.
Yeah, if anything qualifies as mind-blowing, that detail is. Gives a hint at how big the Universe is, and how much stuff is out there. I don't think that area is a particularly crowded part of it, either.
Quote from: Recusant on July 12, 2022, 06:07:30 AM(https://i.imgur.com/omiy8s8.jpg)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
There be a whole bunch of lensing of what appears to be the same object over there *point.*
...Fascinating.
A truly amazing achievement for an ape with just enough brains to be dangerous!
Tank, how are you doing?
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on August 03, 2022, 06:36:06 PMTank, how are you doing?
Ok thanks. While I was away I had sepsis, Covid and a very, very minor heart attack, probably brought on by the sepsis. ;D
The latest news is here https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/news.html
jeez
and a car crash on the way back maybe?
Quote from: Tank on August 03, 2022, 07:27:10 PMQuote from: Ecurb Noselrub on August 03, 2022, 06:36:06 PMTank, how are you doing?
Ok thanks. While I was away I had sepsis, Covid and a very, very minor heart attack, probably brought on by the sepsis. ;D
And now you're trim and shipshape, eh lad?
Some dancing galaxies to celebrate! It's worth clicking through to the full size image on the NASA site.
(https://i.imgur.com/bUOAML7.jpg)
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
"NASA's Webb Sheds Light on Galaxy Evolution, Black Holes" |
NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-sheds-light-on-galaxy-evolution-black-holes)
QuoteStephan's Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, is best known for being prominently featured in the holiday classic film, "It's a Wonderful Life." Today, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope reveals Stephan's Quintet in a new light. This enormous mosaic is Webb's largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the Moon's diameter. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. The information from Webb provides new insights into how galactic interactions may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe.
With its powerful, infrared vision and extremely high spatial resolution, Webb shows never-before-seen details in this galaxy group. Sparkling clusters of millions of young stars and starburst regions of fresh star birth grace the image. Sweeping tails of gas, dust and stars are being pulled from several of the galaxies due to gravitational interactions. Most dramatically, Webb captures huge shock waves as one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B, smashes through the cluster.
[Continues . . . (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-sheds-light-on-galaxy-evolution-black-holes)]
Edited to repair links. - R
I clicked through and didn't end up at NASA. :???:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/main_image_galaxies_stephans_quintet_sq_nircam_miri_final-5mb.jpg
:cheerful dance 2: :not worthy: :yes!:
Quote from: Tank on August 05, 2022, 08:06:30 AMI clicked through and didn't end up at NASA. :???:
Sorry about that--thanks for letting me know. I've repaired the links to the story at NASA.
:fixed:
...I want a much bigger monitor with far more pixels :(
Quote from: Asmodean on August 05, 2022, 08:20:15 AM...I want a much bigger monitor with far more pixels :(
Always.
Wide view of early universe hints at galaxy among earliest ever detected (https://phys.org/news/2022-08-wide-view-early-universe-hints.html)
"Two new images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope show what may be among the earliest galaxies ever observed. Both images include objects from more than 13 billion years ago, and one offers a much wider field of view than Webb's First Deep Field image, which was released amid great fanfare July 12. The images represent some of the first out of a major collaboration of astronomers and other academic researchers teaming with NASA and global partners to uncover new insights about the universe."
Link to image. (https://phys.org/news/2022-08-wide-view-early-universe-hints.html)
i can see your house from here
Quote from: Tank on August 05, 2022, 01:36:22 PMWide view of early universe hints at galaxy among earliest ever detected (https://phys.org/news/2022-08-wide-view-early-universe-hints.html)
"Two new images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope show what may be among the earliest galaxies ever observed. Both images include objects from more than 13 billion years ago, and one offers a much wider field of view than Webb's First Deep Field image, which was released amid great fanfare July 12. The images represent some of the first out of a major collaboration of astronomers and other academic researchers teaming with NASA and global partners to uncover new insights about the universe."
Link to image. (https://phys.org/news/2022-08-wide-view-early-universe-hints.html)
This is mind blowing.
Lovely to see you here again, Essie Mae! It has been a while. :hey:
Welp, the Webb telescope can see a slice of Spanish chorizo. :thoughtful:
"French scientist Etienne Klein apologises after 'James Webb Telescope' image revealed as slice of chorizo" |
ABC (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-05/french-scientist-apologises-for-chorizo-star-joke/101305334)
QuoteA senior French scientist has apologised after tweeting a picture which he said was from the James Webb Space Telescope — but which was not quite what it seemed.
Etienne Klein, a director at France's Atomic Energy Commission, posted a picture purportedly showing Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun.
"This level of detail ... a new world is revealed every day", he enthused in the tweet, sent to more than 90,000 followers on Monday.
However, Professor Klein has now admitted that the glowing celestial body shown was in fact nothing more than a slice of Spanish chorizo sausage.
[. . .]
Apologising for what he described as "a scientist's joke", he said his aim had been to remind people to "be wary of arguments from people in positions of authority".
"I come to present my apologies to those who may have been shocked by my prank, which had nothing original about it," he tweeted.
[Continues . . . (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-05/french-scientist-apologises-for-chorizo-star-joke/101305334)]
Quote from: Recusant on August 06, 2022, 05:27:16 AMWelp, the Webb telescope can see a slice of Spanish chorizo. :thoughtful:
"French scientist Etienne Klein apologises after 'James Webb Telescope' image revealed as slice of chorizo" | ABC (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-05/french-scientist-apologises-for-chorizo-star-joke/101305334)
QuoteA senior French scientist has apologised after tweeting a picture which he said was from the James Webb Space Telescope — but which was not quite what it seemed.
Etienne Klein, a director at France's Atomic Energy Commission, posted a picture purportedly showing Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun.
"This level of detail ... a new world is revealed every day", he enthused in the tweet, sent to more than 90,000 followers on Monday.
However, Professor Klein has now admitted that the glowing celestial body shown was in fact nothing more than a slice of Spanish chorizo sausage.
[. . .]
Apologising for what he described as "a scientist's joke", he said his aim had been to remind people to "be wary of arguments from people in positions of authority".
"I come to present my apologies to those who may have been shocked by my prank, which had nothing original about it," he tweeted.
[Continues . . . (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-05/french-scientist-apologises-for-chorizo-star-joke/101305334)]
Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun? Or...
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZAV0R1XoAEXE14?format=jpg&name=small)
...A slice of Spanish chorizo sausage?
Answer: Both are alternative facts.
Truth:
A slice of a, "4D sausage along the time axis."
:reading:
Quote from: Magdalena link=msg=420654A slice of a, "4D sausage along the time axis."
:reading:
A slice across time
and the plane of the telescope's field of view. :smilenod:
Quote from: Asmodean on August 06, 2022, 07:37:41 AMQuote from: Magdalena link=msg=420654A slice of a, "4D sausage along the time axis."
:reading:
A slice across time and the plane of the telescope's field of view. :smilenod:
Quote...the plane of the telescope's field of view.
Got it.
See?
I pay attention.
(https://i.gifer.com/IWq.gif)
;D
He really should have waited till 1st April to do that :rofl:
...Also, should never, ever apologize on Twitter. That place has honed clutching onto any perceived offence and never letting go to an art. A misplaced apology there is likely to have an person up to their neck in sins to repent, and repent immediately and to the mob's satisfaction. Except of course there is no satisfying the mob.
Me, I just tend to get banned from there. With a smile - every time.
I watched a Nova (PBS) program about the construction and testing of the JWST. Fascinating stuff to be sure. The scientists and engineers were extremely careful about every conceivable detail. They compiled a list of 334 possible failures that could doom the whole 20+ yearlong project. They systematically addressed every one of the failure possibilities. That is one of the reasons the project took so long to complete.
The whole machine was shipped to Houston so that it could be tested in a vacuum chamber whose temperatures could be reduced to more than minus 200 centigrade. It took 30 days to gradually draw the temp down in the chamber. The Telescope endured the temperatures well enough, then they did the vibration test where the macie was exposed to the vibrations expected during launch and flight in space. An unexpected glitch was revealed. During vibration tests some bolts and nuts fell off which might endanger the sucess of the whole thing. One more of the failure possibilities was revealed and remedied.
Among the biggest dramas was when the machine was in place and had its heat shields deployed, That was a delicate process that took several days. After that, the had to adjust each of the mirror leaves so as to focus correctly. All that done while a million miles away.
The whole project was a mind-boggling, spectacular effort on the part of the builders and operators. That is one helluva expensive bit of work. Billions and Billions of dollars were used in the process. At one time congress almost shut the whole thing down because of the enormous expense. Fortunately, they did not cut off the funding.
cool pictures.
are the hungry dalits in india helped on any way by the increased knowledge generated by the telescope?
asking for a friend
Quote from: billy rubin on August 09, 2022, 12:55:32 AMcool pictures.
are the hungry dalits in india helped on any way by the increased knowledge generated by the telescope?
asking for a friend
No more than the world attack budget.
well thats an excellent point
James Webb Space Telescope images of Jupiter (https://phys.org/news/2022-08-sharp-james-webb-space-telescope.html)
Just astonishing.
(https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/hires/2022/unexpected-details-lea.jpg)
spectacular
Jupiter has a belly button. Who knew?
:rofl:
:frolic: :frolic: :frolic:
Webb telescope makes first unequivocal detection of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere (https://phys.org/news/2022-08-james-webb-space-telescope-unequivocal.html)
"For the first time, astronomers have found unambiguous evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system).
The discovery, accepted for publication in Nature and posted online August 25, demonstrates the power of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to deliver unprecedented observations of exoplanet atmospheres."
Just wait until it detects industrial pollution!
JWST... What other things could that stand for, an person wonders?
Jehova's Witnesses Sex Therapy
Jews Who Sell Truffles
Jamaican Women's Soccer Team
Jim Wanks Sometimes Too
This. It is fun for easily-amused The Asmo. :smilenod:
:snicker1:
^^ ;D
NASA's Webb Takes Its First-Ever Direct Image of Distant World (https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/09/01/nasas-webb-takes-its-first-ever-direct-image-of-distant-world/)
"For the first time, astronomers have used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and could not be habitable.
The image, as seen through four different light filters, shows how Webb's powerful infrared gaze can easily capture worlds beyond our solar system, pointing the way to future observations that will reveal more information than ever before about exoplanets."
Amazing.
Quote from: Tank on September 01, 2022, 09:34:47 PM"For the first time, astronomers have used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and could not be habitable.
maybe not.
remember nivens integral trees?
you need an atmosphere, but a substrate is not required, theoretically.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Integral_Trees
QuoteNo "ground" exists in the Smoke Ring; it consists entirely of sky. Furthermore, the Smoke Ring is in orbit and therefore in free fall: there is no "up" or "down". Most animals have trilateral symmetry that allows them to see in all directions. The majority of Smoke Ring animals have evolved to fly on at least an occasional basis—even the fish. The Smoke Ring contains numerous "ponds," globs of water of various sizes which float free like everything else. While there are aquatic and amphibious animals in the Smoke Ring that live the majority of their lives in such ponds, these animals may find their habitat unsuitable at any moment. Whether their home pond drifts too far out of the habitable center of the Smoke Ring and into the gas torus, becomes too large and breaks up due to tidal forces, or impacts a large object such as an integral tree, aquatic animals must be able to propel themselves through the air sometimes in order to find a new place to live.
Cosmic smoke rings. ;D
"Alien megastructures? Cosmic thumbprint? What's behind a James Webb telescope photo that had even astronomers stumped" |
The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/alien-megastructures-cosmic-thumbprint-whats-behind-a-james-webb-telescope-photo-that-had-even-astronomers-stumped-192249)
QuoteIn July, a puzzling new image of a distant extreme star system surrounded by surreal concentric geometric rungs had even astronomers scratching their heads. The picture, which looks like a kind of "cosmic thumbprint", came from the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's newest flagship observatory.
The internet immediately lit up with theories and speculation. Some on the wild fringe even claimed it as evidence for "alien megastructures" of unknown origin.
Luckily, our team at the University of Sydney had already been studying this very star, known as WR140, for more than 20 years – so we were in prime position to use physics to interpret what we were seeing.
Our model, published in Nature, explains the strange process by which the star produces the dazzling pattern of rings seen in the Webb image (itself now published in Nature Astronomy).
WR140 is what's called a Wolf-Rayet star (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%E2%80%93Rayet_star). These are among the most extreme stars known. In a rare but beautiful display, they can sometimes emit a plume of dust into space stretching hundreds of times the size of our entire Solar System.
The radiation field around Wolf-Rayets is so intense, dust and wind are swept outwards at thousands of kilometres per second, or about 1% the speed of light. While all stars have stellar winds, these overachievers drive something more like a stellar hurricane.
Critically, this wind contains elements such as carbon that stream out to form dust.
WR140 is one of a few dusty Wolf-Rayet stars found in a binary system. It is in orbit with another star, which is itself a massive blue supergiant with a ferocious wind of its own.
Only a handful of systems like WR140 are known in our whole galaxy, yet these select few deliver the most unexpected and beautiful gift to astronomers. Dust doesn't simply stream out from the star to form a hazy ball as might be expected; instead it forms only in a cone-shaped area where the winds from the two stars collide.
Because the binary star is in constant orbital motion, this shock front must also rotate. The sooty plume then naturally gets wrapped into a spiral, in the same way as the jet from a rotating garden sprinkler.
[Continues . . . (https://theconversation.com/alien-megastructures-cosmic-thumbprint-whats-behind-a-james-webb-telescope-photo-that-had-even-astronomers-stumped-192249)]
Two papers are available:
"Radiation-driven acceleration in the expanding WR140 dust shell" |
Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05155-5)
"Nested dust shells around the Wolf–Rayet binary WR 140 observed with JWST" |
Nature Astronomy (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01812-x)
Wow!
Yeah, it's a great time for astronomy. :frolic:
Possibly the greatest time ever? We have great theories to test and the best telescopes that have ever existed.
Something that was never mentioned in my solar system astrophysics class. We've learned a lot in the last 40 years.
JWST... :thoughtful:
Just What Satan Thought.
Journalism Without Scare Tactics.
Jammed Watch Still Ticking.
Juicy Wiener Schnitzel Toast. The Asmo now wants. :smilenod:
It just keeps getting better and better!
James Webb telescope spies 'Pillars of Creation' (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63319814)
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/0858/production/_127263120_weic2216b.jpg.webp)
This link has a comparison to the Hubble image which is a good illustration of the visible vs infra-red spectrum images.
Iconic 'Pillars of Creation' captured in new Webb image (https://phys.org/news/2022-10-iconic-pillars-creation-captured-webb.html)
It's starting to do what it was specifically designed for.
JWST reveals birth of galaxies, how universe became transparent (https://phys.org/news/2022-11-webb-space-telescope-reveals-birth.html)
James Webb Space Telescope reveals an exoplanet atmosphere as never seen before (https://phys.org/news/2022-11-james-webb-space-telescope-reveals.html)
A step towards the possible confirmation of alien life.
is that cool or what
It really is amazing isn't it. A few decades ago exoplanets were just a theory and people were saying we'd never know for sure. Now we're analysing their atmospheres! And still we have religions, wars and mass shootings. We really are a fucked up species.
we re no different from any other
its just we have pretensions
JWST does it again! (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66397231)
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2E61/production/_130637811_e5e1035c9f8e25c1e01c3ba57d517a073e7b01b0.jpg.webp)
Quote from: Tank on August 26, 2023, 11:09:08 AMJWST does it again! (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66397231)
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2E61/production/_130637811_e5e1035c9f8e25c1e01c3ba57d517a073e7b01b0.jpg.webp)
Is that your lawn?
Unfortunately not :(
Don't pay attention to those astrophysicist types. It is clear to see that it is a giant eyeball in the sky. Likely a giant aliens eyeball.
James Webb telescope makes 'JuMBO' discovery of planet-like objects in Orion (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66974738)
It can see free floating planets!!!
...Jolly Wankers Sin Together. :smilenod:
With all there is bad in the world today take heart that humanity can still do things like this.
James Webb telescope: Baby star launches giant jets and shocks (//http://)
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/10912/production/_131585876_hh212_jwst_full_20231030.jpg.webp)
Yes, it's nice to have good eyes. James Webb's infrared adds something certainly; more detail of a different sort. However in the image below you can see that other details from the Hubble are obscured a bit. A new portrait of the Crab Nebula (link to big image (https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/webb-stsci-01hbbmj8r6htxp5w1evej24d64.jpg)):
"The Crab Nebula Seen in New Light by NASA's Webb" |
NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/missions/webb/the-crab-nebula-seen-in-new-light-by-nasas-webb/)
Quote(https://i.imgur.com/DpZGnMl.jpg)
This side-by-side comparison of the Crab Nebula as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in optical light (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope in infrared light (right) reveals different details. By studying the recently collected Webb data, and consulting previous observations of the Crab taken by other telescopes like Hubble, astronomers can build a more comprehensive understanding of this mysterious supernova remnant.
Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll (Arizona State University); Webb Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton University)
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has gazed at the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Since the recording of this energetic event in 1054 CE by 11th-century astronomers, the Crab Nebula has continued to draw attention and additional study as scientists seek to understand the conditions, behavior, and after-effects of supernovae through thorough study of the Crab, a relatively nearby example.
Using Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), a team led by Tea Temim at Princeton University is searching for answers about the Crab Nebula's origins.
"Webb's sensitivity and spatial resolution allow us to accurately determine the composition of the ejected material, particularly the content of iron and nickel, which may reveal what type of explosion produced the Crab Nebula," explained Temim.
At first glance, the general shape of the supernova remnant is similar to the optical wavelength image released in 2005 from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope: In Webb's infrared observation, a crisp, cage-like structure of fluffy gaseous filaments are shown in red-orange. However, in the central regions, emission from dust grains (yellow-white and green) is mapped out by Webb for the first time.
Additional aspects of the inner workings of the Crab Nebula become more prominent and are seen in greater detail in the infrared light captured by Webb. In particular, Webb highlights what is known as synchrotron radiation: emission produced from charged particles, like electrons, moving around magnetic field lines at relativistic speeds. The radiation appears here as milky smoke-like material throughout the majority of the Crab Nebula's interior.
This feature is a product of the nebula's pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star. The pulsar's strong magnetic field accelerates particles to extremely high speeds and causes them to emit radiation as they wind around magnetic field lines. Though emitted across the electromagnetic spectrum, the synchrotron radiation is seen in unprecedented detail with Webb's NIRCam instrument.
[Continues . . . (https://www.nasa.gov/missions/webb/the-crab-nebula-seen-in-new-light-by-nasas-webb/)]
There's a link on the NASA page to download full resolution versions of the images if you want to go for a deeper dive.
If only more people paid more attention to the world around them than the world in their head.
There's something to ponder on. Both are important. Contemporary people are so much more immersed in various media though. The natural world has attention-grabbing competition.
Posssible science fiction idea: A technologically advanced culture that intentionally tried to avoid destroying the environment from its start. Easy to say, but the practicalities would be interesting. One of the aspects of that might be a culture that was not so easily drawn to mental/emotional glitter.
Nah, too utopian. :chin:
Assisted by a gravitational lens, some big old galaxies:
"Second-most distant galaxy discovered using James Webb Space Telescope" |
PennState (https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-college-science/story/second-most-distant-galaxy-discovered-using-james-webb-space-telescope/)
Quote(https://i.imgur.com/7TXMzc1.png)
The second- and fourth-most distant galaxies ever seen (UNCOVER z-13 and UNCOVER z-12) have been confirmed using the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). The galaxies are located in Pandora's Cluster (Abell 2744), shown here as near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated to visible-light colors. The scale of the main cluster image is labelled in arcseconds, which is a measure of angular distance in the sky. The circles on the black-and-white images, showing the galaxies in the NIRCam-F277W filter band onboard JWST, indicate an aperture size of 0.32 arcsec.
Image Credit: Cluster image: NASA, UNCOVER (Bezanson et al., DIO: 10.48550/arXiv.2212.04026). Insets: Nasa, UNCOVER (Wang et al., 2023). Composition: Dani Zemba/Penn State.
The second- and fourth-most distant galaxies ever observed have been discovered in a region of space known as Pandora's Cluster, or Abell 2744, using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Following up on a deep field image of the area, an international team led by Penn State researchers confirmed the distance of these ancient galaxies and inferred their properties using new spectroscopic data — information about light emitted across the electromagnetic spectrum — from JWST. At nearly 33 billion light years away, these incredibly distant galaxies offer insights into how the earliest galaxies might have formed.
Unlike other galaxies confirmed at this distance that appear in images as red dots, the new galaxies are larger and appear like a peanut and a fluffy ball, according to the researchers. A paper describing the galaxies appears today (Nov. 13) in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
"Very little is known about the early universe, and the only way to learn about that time and to test our theories of early galaxy formation and growth is with these very distant galaxies," said first author Bingjie Wang, postdoctoral scholar in the Penn State Eberly College of Science and a member of the JWST UNCOVER (Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam ObserVations before the Epoch of Reionization) team that conducted the research. "Prior to our analysis, we knew of only three galaxies confirmed at around this extreme distance. Studying these new galaxies and their properties has revealed the diversity of galaxies in the early universe and how much there is to be learned from them."
[Continues . . . (https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-college-science/story/second-most-distant-galaxy-discovered-using-james-webb-space-telescope/)]
The paper is open access. One note. The "
z" notation here describes a redshift number. The higher the number, the greater the redshift and thus the greater distance. Also, this site doesn't support LaTeX, so two equations get a bit mangled in the abstract below.
"Illuminating the Early Universe—JWST/NIRSpec Confirmation of z > 12 Galaxies" |
The Astrophysical Journal Letters (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/acfe07)
QuoteAbstract:
Observations of high-redshift galaxies provide a critical direct test to the theories of early galaxy formation, yet to date, only three have been spectroscopically confirmed at z > 12. Due to strong gravitational lensing over a wide area, the galaxy cluster field A2744 is ideal for searching for the earliest galaxies. Here we present JWST/NIRSpec observations of two galaxies: a robust detection at zspec = 12.393, and a plausible candidate at zspec = 13.079. The galaxies are discovered in JWST/NIRCam imaging and their distances are inferred with JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy, all from the JWST Cycle 1 UNCOVER Treasury survey.
Detailed stellar population modeling using JWST NIRCam and NIRSpec data corroborates the primeval characteristics of these galaxies: low mass (∼108M⊙), young, rapidly assembling, metal-poor, and star-forming. Interestingly, both galaxies are spatially resolved, having lensing-corrected rest-UV effective radii on the order of 300–400 pc, which are notably larger than other spectroscopically confirmed systems at similar redshifts.
The observed dynamic range of z ≳ 10 sizes spans over 1 order of magnitude, implying a significant scatter in the size–mass relation at early times. Deep into the epoch of reionization, these discoveries elucidate the emergence of the first galaxies.
...Just Weeding Small Tomatos. :smilenod:
Living on the edge of discovery!!! :frolic: :frolic: :frolic:
^ That is mind bending stuff.
This is a recent picture of Neptune, its ring system, local moons and major moon, Titan, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede being the largest. Our Moon it the 5th largest. Titan's image is distorted because the exposure was set for Neptune resulting in Titan being over exposed as it is essentially a ball of ice and thus white.
(https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/for_stsci_site_imageb-neptunelabeled.png)
What a time to be alive!
Earliest and most distant galaxy ever observed (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjeenyw8rd2o)
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/f812/live/ea89c120-1f17-11ef-a13a-0b8c563da930.png.webp)
QuoteThe James Webb Space Telescope has smashed its own record for detecting the most distant known galaxy.
Called JADES-GS-z14-0, the collection of stars was spied as it was a mere 290 million years after the Big Bang.
Put another way - if the Universe is 13.8 billion years old, it means we're observing the galaxy when the cosmos was only 2% of its current age.
...Joe Wanks So Tenderly. :smilenod:
One of these days, fitting random ramblings to JWST will cease to amuse an easily-amused The Asmo. that day, however, is not today. :smilenod:
About those far-distant galaxies: some anomalous findings (pretty much always cool, in astronomy/cosmology).
"Tiny bright objects discovered at dawn of universe baffle scientists |
PennState (https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/tiny-bright-objects-discovered-dawn-universe-baffle-scientists/)
QuoteA recent discovery by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) confirmed that luminous, very red objects previously detected in the early universe upend conventional thinking about the origins and evolution of galaxies and their supermassive black holes.
An international team, led by Penn State researchers, using the NIRSpec instrument aboard JWST as part of the RUBIES survey identified three mysterious objects in the early universe, about 600-800 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 5% of its current age. They announced the discovery today (June 27) in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The team studied spectral measurements, or intensity of different wavelengths of light emitted from the objects. Their analysis found signatures of "old" stars, hundreds of millions of years old, far older than expected in a young universe.
The researchers said they were also surprised to discover signatures of huge supermassive black holes in the same objects, estimating that they are 100 to 1,000 times more massive than the supermassive black hole in our own Milky Way. Neither of these are expected in current models of galaxy growth and supermassive black hole formation, which expect galaxies and their black holes to grow together over billions of years of cosmic history.
"We have confirmed that these appear to be packed with ancient stars — hundreds of millions of years old — in a universe that is only 600-800 million years old. Remarkably, these objects hold the record for the earliest signatures of old starlight," said Bingjie Wang, a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State and lead author on the paper. "It was totally unexpected to find old stars in a very young universe. The standard models of cosmology and galaxy formation have been incredibly successful, yet, these luminous objects do not quite fit comfortably into those theories."
The researchers first spotted the massive objects in July of 2022, when the initial dataset was released from JWST. The team published a paper in Nature several months later announcing the objects' existence.
At the time, the researchers suspected the objects were galaxies, but followed up their analysis by taking spectra to better understand the true distances of the objects, as well as the sources powering their immense light.
The researchers then used the new data to draw a clearer picture of what the galaxies looked like and what was inside of them. Not only did the team confirm that the objects were indeed galaxies near the beginning of time, but they also found evidence of surprisingly large supermassive black holes and a surprisingly old population of stars.
[Continues . . . (https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/tiny-bright-objects-discovered-dawn-universe-baffle-scientists/)]
The paper is open access:
"RUBIES: Evolved Stellar Populations with Extended Formation Histories at z ∼ 7–8 in Candidate Massive Galaxies Identified with JWST/NIRSpec" |
The Astrophysical Journal Letters (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad55f7)
QuoteAbstract:
The identification of red, apparently massive galaxies at z > 7 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift) in early James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) photometry suggests a strongly accelerated time line compared to standard models of galaxy growth. A major uncertainty in the interpretation is whether the red colors are caused by evolved stellar populations, dust, or other effects such as emission lines or active galactic nuclei (AGNs).
Here we show that three of the massive galaxy candidates at z = 6.7–8.4 have prominent Balmer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmer_series) breaks in JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy from the RUBIES program. The Balmer breaks demonstrate unambiguously that stellar emission dominates at λrest = 0.4 μm and require formation histories extending hundreds of millions of years into the past in galaxies only 600–800 Myr after the big bang.
Two of the three galaxies also show broad Balmer lines, with Hβ FWHM > 2500 km s−1, suggesting that dust-reddened AGNs contribute to, or even dominate, the spectral energy distributions of these galaxies at λrest ≳ 0.6 μm. All three galaxies have relatively narrow [o iii] lines, seemingly ruling out a high-mass interpretation if the lines arise in dynamically relaxed, inclined disks.
Yet the inferred masses also remain highly uncertain. We model the high-quality spectra using Prospector to decompose the continuum into stellar and AGN components and explore limiting cases in stellar/AGN contribution. This produces a wide range of possible stellar masses, spanning M⋆ ∼ 109−1011M⊙.
Nevertheless, all fits suggest a very early and rapid formation, most of which follow with a truncation in star formation. Potential origins and evolutionary tracks for these objects are discussed, from the cores of massive galaxies to low-mass galaxies with overmassive black holes. Intriguingly, we find all of these explanations to be incomplete; deeper and redder data are needed to understand the physics of these systems.
I love the JWST!
Tank loves himself-self Just Wasting Some Time. :smilenod:
...Jeering with substantial tenacity..?
...Joking while serving tea?
...Jousting With Sir Tristan?
...Jam with some toast..?
:thoughtful:
The Asmo shall figure it out, see if He shall not!
Quote from: Asmodean on July 02, 2024, 01:21:52 PMThe Asmo shall figure it out, see if He shall not!
I for one eagerly await the results. ;)
Meanwhile a couple more items . . .
"Webb captures a staggering quasar-galaxy merger in the remote universe" |
Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2024-07-webb-captures-staggering-quasar-galaxy.html)
QuoteAn international research group led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and comprising 34 research institutes and universities worldwide utilized the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to witness the dramatic interaction between a quasar inside the PJ308–21 system and two massive satellite galaxies in the distant universe.
The observations, made in September 2022, unveiled unprecedented and awe-inspiring details, providing new insights into the growth of galaxies in the early universe. The results, presented July 5 during the European Astronomical Society (EAS 2024) meeting in Padua (Italy), will be published soon in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Observations of this quasar (already described by the same authors in another study published last May), one of the first studied with NIRSpec when the universe was less than a billion years old (redshift z = 6.2342), have revealed data of sensational quality: the instrument "captured" the quasar's spectrum with an uncertainty of less than 1% per pixel.
The host galaxy of PJ308–21 shows high metallicity and photoionization conditions typical of an active galactic nucleus (AGN), whereas one of the satellite galaxies exhibits low metallicity (which refers to the abundance of chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium) and photoionization induced by star formation; a higher metallicity characterizes the second satellite galaxy, which is partially photoionized by the quasar.
The discovery has enabled astronomers to determine the mass of the supermassive black hole at the center of the system (about 2 billion solar masses). It also confirmed that both the quasar and the surrounding galaxies are highly evolved in mass and metal enrichment, and in constant growth.
[Continues . . . (https://phys.org/news/2024-07-webb-captures-staggering-quasar-galaxy.html)]
"Webb Sees a Star in the Midst of Formation" |
Universe Today (https://www.universetoday.com/167678/webb-sees-a-star-in-the-midst-of-formation/)
Quote(https://imgur.com/6Jlt48G.jpg)
In this JWST image, a young protostar is growing larger and emitting jets of material from
inside its molecular cloud.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Wherever the JWST looks in space, matter and energy are interacting in spectacular displays. The Webb reveals more detail in these interactions than any other telescope because it can see through dense gas and dust that cloak many objects.
In a new image, the JWST spots a young protostar only 100,000 years old.
The star is named L1527, and at this young age, it's still ensconced in the molecular cloud that spawned it. This is one of the reasons NASA built the JWST (with help from the ESA and the CSA.) The telescope can see through dust and gas to reveal the earliest stages of star formation.
This image was captured with MIRI, the Mid-Infrared Instrument. The young protostar is at the heart of it all, and it's still growing. It's accumulating mass from the protoplanetary disk that surrounds it. The disk is the tiny dark horizontal line at the image's center.
[Continues . . . (https://www.universetoday.com/167678/webb-sees-a-star-in-the-midst-of-formation/)]
I'm so glad I'm alive to witness these astonishing discoveries.
Agreed sir. For those who appreciate learning a bit about the workings of the Universe and seeing parts of it in action this is a wonderful time. A lucky circumstance to be around to see what devices like Hubble and Webb can show us.
The vision of humanity has expanded so much from molecular microscopes to the JWST. Amazing.
From this past February (though I don't think it's previously appeared here). . . The Hubble and Webb telescopes may be showing us the cause of reionization in the early Universe (the source of first effective light). With the usual pop-sci glossing into certainty something that is by its nature tentative.
"We Finally Know What Switched on The Lights at The Dawn of Time" |
Science Alert (https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-what-switched-on-the-lights-at-the-dawn-of-time)
QuoteWe finally know what brought light to the dark and formless void of the early Universe.
According to data from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, the origins of the free-flying photons in the early cosmic dawn were small dwarf galaxies that flared to life, clearing the fog of murky hydrogen that filled intergalactic space. A new paper about the research was published in February.
"This discovery unveils the crucial role played by ultra-faint galaxies in the early Universe's evolution," said astrophysicist Iryna Chemerynska of the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris.
"They produce ionizing photons that transform neutral hydrogen into ionized plasma during cosmic reionization. It highlights the importance of understanding low-mass galaxies in shaping the Universe's history."
At the beginning of the Universe, within minutes of the Big Bang, space was filled with a hot, dense fog of ionized plasma. What little light there was wouldn't have penetrated this fog; photons would simply have scattered off the free electrons floating around, effectively making the Universe dark.
As the Universe cooled, after about 300,000 years, protons and electrons began to come together to form neutral hydrogen (and a little bit of helium) gas.
Most wavelengths of light could penetrate this neutral medium, but there was very little in the way of light sources to produce it. But from this hydrogen and helium, the first stars were born.
Those first stars delivered radiation that was strong enough to peel electrons away from their nuclei and reionize the gas. By this point, however, the Universe had expanded so much that the gas was diffuse, and could not prevent light from shining out.
By about 1 billion years after the Big Bang, the end of the period known as the cosmic dawn, the Universe was entirely reionized. Ta-da! The lights were on.
But because there's so much murk in the cosmic dawn, and because it's so dim and far away across time and space, we've had trouble seeing what's there.
Scientists thought that the sources responsible for most of the clearing must have been powerful – huge black holes whose accretion produces blazing light, for example, and large galaxies in the throes of star formation (baby stars produce a lot of UV light).
JWST was designed, in part, to peer into the cosmic dawn and try to see what lurks therein. It's been very successful, revealing all sorts of surprises about this crucial time in the formation of our Universe. Surprisingly, the telescope's observations now suggest that dwarf galaxies are the key player in reionization.
[Continues . . . (https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-what-switched-on-the-lights-at-the-dawn-of-time)]
The paper (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07043-6) is behind a paywall but I found a preprint version--the abstract is the same in both.
"Most of the photons that reionized the Universe came from dwarf galaxies" |
ArXiv (https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.08540)
QuoteAbstract:
The identification of sources driving cosmic reionization, a major phase transition from neutral Hydrogen to ionized plasma around 600-800 Myr after the Big Bang has been a matter of intense debate.
Some models suggest that high ionizing emissivity and escape fractions (fesc) from quasars support their role in driving cosmic reionization. Others propose that the high fesc values from bright galaxies generates sufficient ionizing radiation to drive this process. Finally, a few studies suggest that the number density of faint galaxies, when combined with a stellar-mass-dependent model of ionizing efficiency and fesc, can effectively dominate cosmic reionization. However, so far, low-mass galaxies have eluded comprehensive spectroscopic studies owing to their extreme faintness.
Here we report an analysis of eight ultra-faint galaxies (in a very small field) during the epoch of reionization with absolute magnitudes between MUV ≈−17 to −15 mag (down to 0.005 L⋆). We find that faint galaxies during the Universe's first billion years produce ionizing photons with log(ξion/ Hz erg−1) =25.80±0.14, a factor of 4 higher than commonly assumed values. If this field is representative of the large scale distribution of faint galaxies, the rate of ionizing photons exceeds that needed for reionization, even for escape fractions of order 5%.
How interesting :)
Galaxies in a Webb image appear to rotate in one direction more than the other. Two possible explanations are presented. The relatively mundane explanation (having to do with the physics of galaxies themselves, and perhaps that of our own galaxy) seems more likely to me than the other explanation: that the rotation "bias" comes from the Universe itself having a rotational velocity.
"Puzzling observation by JWST: Galaxies in the deep universe rotate in the same direction" |
Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2025-03-puzzling-jwst-galaxies-deep-universe.html)
QuoteIn images of the deep universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, the vast majority of the galaxies rotate in the same direction, according to research by Lior Shamir, associate professor of computer science at the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering. About two thirds of the galaxies rotate clockwise, while just about a third of the galaxies rotate counterclockwise.
The study—published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society—was done with 263 galaxies in the JADES field that were clear enough to identify their direction of rotation.
"The analysis of the galaxies was done by quantitative analysis of their shapes, but the difference is so obvious that any person looking at the image can see it," Shamir said. "There is no need for special skills or knowledge to see that the numbers are different. With the power of the James Webb Space Telescope, anyone can see it."
In a random universe, the number of galaxies that rotate in one direction should be roughly the same as the number of galaxies that rotate in the other direction. The fact that JWST shows that most galaxies rotate in the same direction is therefore unexpected.
[Continues . . . (https://phys.org/news/2025-03-puzzling-jwst-galaxies-deep-universe.html)]
The paper is open access:
"The distribution of galaxy rotation in JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey" |
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/538/1/76/8019798)
QuoteAbstract:
JWST provides a view of the Universe never seen before, and specifically fine details of galaxies in deep space. JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) is a deep field survey, providing unprecedentedly detailed view of galaxies in the early Universe. The field is also in relatively close proximity to the Galactic pole.
Analysis of spiral galaxies by their direction of rotation in JADES shows that the number of galaxies in that field that rotate in the opposite direction relative to the Milky Way galaxy is ~50 per cent higher than the number of galaxies that rotate in the same direction relative to the Milky Way. The analysis is done using a computer-aided quantitative method, but the difference is so extreme that it can be noticed and inspected even by the unaided human eye.
These observations are in excellent agreement with deep fields taken at around the same footprint by Hubble Space Telescope and JWST. The reason for the difference may be related to the structure of the early Universe, but it can also be related to the physics of galaxy rotation and the internal structure of galaxies. In that case the observation can provide possible explanations to other puzzling anomalies such as the Ho tension and the observation of massive mature galaxies at very high redshifts.
Now that life may have been detected on an exo-planet, should we employ the JW to see if life exists on Earth?
https://news.sky.com/story/strongest-evidence-of-life-yet-found-on-planet-beyond-solar-system-scientists-say-13350295
Sounds stupid but the definition of what is life is still not clear.
The universe itself might be a life form.
A bit like only one electron exists in the universe (Feynman/Wheeler hypothesis).
https://www.iflscience.com/the-strange-theory-that-there-is-only-one-electron-in-the-universe-73818#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20theory%20proposed,forward%20and%20backward%20in%20time.
Only one life form has ever existed on Earth as it moves forward and backward in time and taking on infinite transitions.
Maybe just a scare story, but Trump and his crowd of devoted dunderheads give every appearance of being serious about their crusade to elevate ignorance to a core value.
"The Webb Telescope is making incredible discoveries: It may go dark" |
Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2025-04-webb-telescope-incredible-discoveries-dark.html)
QuoteThe $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is literally parked 1 million miles away. In the nearly three years since it became operational, "Webb," as it's called, has made some incredible findings.
Webb uses infrared scanning to show how stars and galaxies form, and to study the atmospheres of distant planets. Its capabilities complement the aging Hubble Space Telescope, which orbits Earth at an altitude of only 340 miles or so.
Among other discoveries, Webb has uncovered the slow-motion process of a star engulfing a planet and provided data about an asteroid traveling at high speed in our direction (It will miss us).
You might think any U.S. president would view this as an asset. Alas, like so much of the country's ongoing scientific research, Webb is at risk of being defunded.
President Donald Trump's administration has removed NASA's top scientist and proposed a nearly 50% budget cut to the agency's Science Mission Directorate, which oversees planetary science, astrophysics research and more.
The White House reportedly is pushing to scrap the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a wide-view instrument undergoing final testing and assembly that is scheduled for launch within two years. Next-generation satellites meant to improve human understanding of the planet are on the chopping block as well.
While NASA's proposed budget retains some funding for the Hubble and Webb telescopes, they could become practically useless given the cuts planned for the agency's science staff.
Pointing these gadgets at the right targets to obtain useful data is no simple feat. Without a critical mass of scientists, "the science from these instruments stops," Daniel Holz, an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago, told us. "It's just not viable if these cuts go through anywhere near what's proposed. There is no bare-bones mode to run these highly complex, state-of-the-art facilities."
The Trump administration's planned cuts at NASA are being repeated at other agencies employing scientists to do everything from vetting new prescription drugs to predicting hurricane landfalls. Similarly, Trump's pressure campaign on elite universities uses federal research funding as leverage, in some cases threatening to destroy years of work by disrupting long-term studies.
[Continues . . . (https://phys.org/news/2025-04-webb-telescope-incredible-discoveries-dark.html)]
Quote from: zorkan on April 19, 2025, 11:45:00 AMSounds stupid but the definition of what is life is still not clear.
that is not stupid at all.
what is your definition of life? i cant figur e it out.
Strong AI suggests a new life form is on the way.
"Strong AI would have the cognitive abilities to reason, problem-solve, and learn from experience, mirroring human-like intelligence."
If alien intelligence exists we might detect their AI soon.
It's full of galaxies! ;)
"Almost Every Speck of Light in This Incredible Image Is a Galaxy" |
Science Alert (https://www.sciencealert.com/almost-every-speck-of-light-in-this-incredible-image-is-a-galaxy)
Quote(https://i.imgur.com/ZyNHBQ7.jpg)
The full deep field. You can download the full-size image here (https://esawebb.org/images/potm2504a/).
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Gozaliasl, A. Koekemoer, M. Franco, and the COSMOS-Web team
If you ever want to get a bit of perspective, there's very little that's more humbling than a good deep field image – and JWST has just dropped a real showstopper.
In the latest image release, the powerful space telescope gazed back nearly 12 billion light-years into a tiny patch of sky, less than a fifth of the width of the full Moon. That little patch of sky is teeming with glittering lights.
It looks a lot like any patch of the sky seen when you look up from the ground on a cloudless night, with one major, jaw-dropping difference.
Most of the lights in the new JWST-Hubble composite image are not bright stars, but galaxies, stretching back almost as far across space-time as the beginning of the Universe.
[. . .]
In a catalog compiled from these data [JWST along with the Chandra X-ray Observatory], an international team of astronomers led by astrophysicist Greta Toni of the University of Bologna has identified 1,678 groups of galaxies. Not 1,678 galaxies – 1,678 groups.
There is also nothing special about this little patch of sky, measuring just 6.44 by 6.44 arcminutes. The full Moon, for context, is around 30 arcminutes across. Every other tiny patch of sky should be just as teeming with galaxies, thousands upon thousands that can be imaged in an area smaller than your pinky nail.
[Continues . . . (https://www.sciencealert.com/almost-every-speck-of-light-in-this-incredible-image-is-a-galaxy)]
There is a preprint PDF of the paper available:
"The COSMOS-Web deep galaxy group catalog up to z=3.7" |
arXiv (https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.09060)
QuoteAbstract:
Galaxy groups with Mtot ≲ 1014 M☉ and up to a few tens of members are the most common galaxy environment, marking the transition between field and massive clusters. Identifying groups plays a crucial role in understanding structure formation and galaxy evolution.
Modern deep surveys allow us to build well-characterized samples of groups up to the regime where structures were taking shape. We aimed to build the largest deep catalog of galaxy groups to date over the COSMOS-Web field effective area of 0.45 deg2, leveraging the deep high quality data of the new COSMOS-Web photometric catalog resulted from the James Webb Space Telescope observations of the COSMOS-Web field. We performed the group search with the AMICO algorithm, a linear matched filter based on an analytical model for the group signal. AMICO has already been tested in wide and deep field surveys, including COSMOS data up to z = 2.
In this work, we tested the algorithm performances at even higher redshift and searched for protocluster cores at z > 2. We compiled a list of known protoclusters in COSMOS at 2 ≤ z ≤ 3.7, matched them with our detections and studied the clustering of the detected cores.
We estimated purity and completeness of our sample by creating data-driven mocks with the SinFoniA code and linked signal-to-noise to purity. We detected 1678 groups in the COSMOS-Web field up to z = 3.7, including lists of members extending nearly two magnitudes deeper than the previous AMICO-COSMOS catalog. 756 groups were detected with purity of 80\%. More than 500 groups have their redshift confirmed by assigning spectroscopic counterparts. This group catalog offers a unique opportunity to explore galaxy evolution in different environments spanning ~12 Gyr and to study groups, from the least rich population to the formation of the most massive clusters.
^ Spectacular !
The paper above is looking at galaxies in the range up to
z = 3.7 -- "
z" being shorthand for the observed redshift (the larger the number the greater the shift) which in turn gives a rough idea of distance and "age" of the light from those galaxies.
In the paper described below, the redshift is significantly larger, in the range of
z = 14. Not as spectacular visually, but amazing in its own way.
"JWST Detects Most Distant Galaxy Yet, 280 Million Years After Big Bang" |
Science Alert (https://www.sciencealert.com/jwst-detects-most-distant-galaxy-yet-280-million-years-after-big-bang)
QuoteThe JWST has done it again. The powerful space telescope has already revealed the presence of bright galaxies only several hundred million years after the Big Bang.
Now, it's sensed light from a galaxy only 280 million years after the Big Bang, the most distant galaxy ever detected.
[. . .]
The newly discovered galaxy is named MoM-z14, and it comes from the Mirage or Miracle survey. This spectroscopic survey is designed to confirm high-redshift candidate galaxies, and z14 refers to the galaxy's redshift. This finding is surprising because astronomers expected to find very few galaxies at such a high redshift.
[. . .]
Observations show that most of the galaxy's light comes from stars, not an active galactic nucleus (AGN). AGN are the bright cores of galaxies powered by supermassive black holes accreting matter. So MoM-z14 likely hosts some luminous supermassive stars, something that theory predicted about the early Universe.
The galaxy's nitrogen-to-carbon ratio is higher than that observed in the Sun. Its chemical composition resembles ancient globular clusters attached to the Milky Way. This means that the stars in the galaxy and those in globular clusters formed in similar environments with similar nucleosynthesis and metallicity pollution from previous stars.
"Since this abundance pattern is also common among the most ancient stars born in the Milky Way, we may be directly witnessing the formation of such stars in dense clusters, connecting galaxy evolution across the entire sweep of cosmic time," the authors write.
[Continues . . . (https://www.sciencealert.com/jwst-detects-most-distant-galaxy-yet-280-million-years-after-big-bang)]
The paper is open access, but LaTex would be required to present the abstract properly.
"A Cosmic Miracle: A Remarkably Luminous Galaxy at
zspec = 14.4 Confirmed with JWST" |
arXiv (https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.11263)
It never ceases to amaze.
Celebrating three years of brilliant observations, the JWST team used the telescope to look at a relatively nearby nebula. You can click on the image below to enlarge it a bit and there is a much larger version available at the link below.
"Cat's Paw Nebula (NIRCam)" |
European Space Agency (https://esawebb.org/images/weic2513a/)
(https://i.imgur.com/7xiKVQV.jpg)
Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334)
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA
QuoteTo celebrate the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope's third year of highly productive science, astronomers used the telescope to scratch beyond the surface of the Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334), a massive, local star-forming region. This area is of great interest to scientists, having been subject to previous study by NASA's Hubble and retired Spitzer space telescopes, as they seek to understand the multiple steps required for a turbulent molecular cloud to transition to stars.
Webb's view reveals a chaotic scene still in development: Massive young stars are carving away at nearby gas and dust, while their bright starlight is producing a bright nebulous glow represented in blue. This is only a chapter in the region's larger story. The disruptive young stars, with their relatively short lifespans and luminosity, will eventually quench the local star formation process.
The Cat's Paw Nebula is located approximately 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.
[Continues, but it's just a description of the image . . . (https://esawebb.org/images/weic2513a/)]
The article from
Science Alert (https://www.sciencealert.com/peer-into-the-toebeans-of-a-cosmic-cats-paw-to-celebrate-jwsts-3rd-year) goes into more detail, with a bit of whimsy from the writer. I've noticed that tendency in her before. :D
Wonderful!
:this: