Share with friends and circles of friends with wechat scanning QR code < / P > < p > on July 13, local time, NASA announced the first deep space images of the universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope on Tuesday. Five full-color images showed that the telescope operated better than expected, which excited scientists and dazzled the public < p > < / P > < p > < / P > < p > < p > Webb telescope is the most powerful space observatory so far. Its main mirror diameter is 6.5 meters, while the diameter of Hubble telescope's main mirror is 2.4 meters, which makes Webb telescope's focusing ability about 7 times that of Hubble telescope, so it has the ability to see a more distant past. The first images taken by Webb Telescope show the previously invisible picture of the universe, providing a new perspective for scientists to study the ancient newborn universe

another key difference is that Webb is equipped with cameras and other instruments sensitive to infrared radiation. The expansion of the universe causes the visible light under normal conditions to gradually pull into infrared light with longer wavelength, which is usually invisible to human eyes

but Hubble also has advantages. Operating in low earth orbit, astronauts can repair damaged or worn components or install more powerful new instruments. These repairs can extend the life of the Hubble telescope far beyond its original design

the cosmic images and other data released on Tuesday were selected by experts from a series of possible sources, including the galaxy cluster smacs0723, the atmospheric composition of extrasolar planets, the new color photos of the Southern Ring Nebula, the Stephen quintuple galaxy, and the Carina Nebula, which highlighted the detection range and power of the Webb telescope

"they've always been there," said astrophysicist Jane Rigby of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "We just need to build a telescope and see what's there." < p > < / P > < p > John Mather, a scientist of the Webb telescope advanced project, said, "we are looking for the first substance produced by the big bang."

in the coming months, NASA will release more Telescope images through the "early release science programs". Other results will be released on Thursday, including data collected by the telescope when it was deployed in space, as well as images of galaxies farther away < p > Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's deputy director for scientific missions, revealed that "what we are most worried about is the micro meteorite environment," referring to a small space rock that cut through the telescope mirror in May. He believes that a possible solution is to let the telescope fly "backward" in space, so that any dust will only hit the back of the mirror, not the front. He also stressed that the successful display of the image did not erase the disgraceful moment in this cost overrun task. "People tell me, 'after you see the first picture, you will forget,'" zubhern said. "In fact, we will never forget. We need to learn these lessons."

Bruce balick, Professor of astronomy at the University of Washington, said of the complex carbon molecules floating in the Southern Ring Nebula: "the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in these stars may be a very important part of the origin of life." "(image) made me dumbfounded."

"it took me a while to figure out what this picture was expressing," Telescope project scientist amber Straughn said, pointing to the rugged structure in an image of the Carina Nebula

Strawn added that the image reminded her of the size of the entire nebula, full of stars and planets

"we humans are really connected to the universe," she said. "We are made up of the same substance."

"these images surprised me," said Alan Dressler, an astronomer at Carnegie Observatory who participated in the planning of the Webb telescope 30 years ago. "It seems that I'm not as tired as I think."

he added: "our understanding of the universe will be as profound as the Hubble telescope, which really explains some problems." We are preparing for a great adventure. "

with the release of various images, "astronomers will be crazy about it!" Garth Illingworth, a researcher at the University of California Santa Cruz and the initiator of the telescope project 40 years ago, wrote in an email

scientists have been waiting for the Webb telescope to continue to change astronomical observations, as Hubble defined astronomy for the past three decades. Webb was first the next generation space telescope, and later developed into an infrared telescope, which can sense the heat from the earliest stars and galaxies in the universe < p > an early planning committee concluded that the telescope needs to be at least 4 meters in diameter to be highly sensitive to infrared radiation, which costs $1billion. At that time, NASA Director Dan Goldin worried that the 4-meter-diameter telescope was too small to see the first generation of stars, so he increased the size to 8 meters

however, if the diameter of the telescope is doubled, it will not be able to carry on any rocket. This means that the telescope mirror must be collapsible and must be deployed in space. NASA finally determined that the 6.5-meter-wide reflector has seven times the condensing capacity of Hubble telescope

in addition, the telescope must be cooled to minus 228 degrees Celsius to prevent its own heat from drowning out the weak radiation from distant stars. In addition, NASA also designed a long and expensive test project for the Webb telescope. As a result, the cost rose to $8billion. In 2011, the U.S. Congress almost canceled this program

"Webb became a perfect storm," Dressler recalled. "The higher the cost, the more critical it is. It cannot fail, which makes it more expensive."

in an early test, the sun visor was torn. "When you use a $10billion telescope, there will be no small problems," NASA deputy director zubuchen said "It's hard to know what's important and what's not."

bill Ochs, who has been the project manager of Webb telescope since 2011, said that Webb telescope represents the joint efforts of about 20000 engineers, astronomers, technicians and managers

at the end of the press conference on Tuesday, zubuchen and mather came to the stage to congratulate the team. Mather said he had never worried about the failure of the telescope. "Although maybe I should," he added

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2023-03-22 10:04:54