NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched roughly six months ago with the mission of observing and taking photographs of cosmic bodies, has captured the deepest image of our universe.
Since it was launched, the space telescope has successfully unfolded its expansive sunshield, commissioned its science instruments, and reached an observation point more than one million kilometers from our planet.
Deepest Image of the Universe
This exciting point in space exploration comes after nearly two decades of effort to design, build, and test the massive space telescope on Earth prior to its launch on Christmas Day in 2021. Now, all of the responsibility is in the rearview mirror, and Webb's massive 6.5-meter diameter mirror is looking outward and collecting scientific data and images.
The James Webb Space Telescope is known to be the largest and most powerful telescope that humans have ever launched into space and it is already revealing new information about the universe. Thomas Zurbuchen, who leads NASA's scientific programs said during a news conference on Wednesday that the images were being taken right now, as per ArsTechnica.
He added that the space telescope has already captured a trove of amazing scientific information and noted that some others are yet to be taken moving forward. Zurbuchen said that the space agency was on the verge of getting the history-making data down.
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NASA said that it had plans to release several images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope starting at 10:30 a.m. ET on Jul. 12, which is a result of the telescope's "first light" observations. The space agency's officials said on Wednesday that the images and other data would include the deepest-field image of the universe that has ever been taken by humans.
According to Phys.org, Bill Nelson, NASA's administrator, said that with the help of the Webb telescope, humans have been able to look farther than they have ever been before. Nelson's remarks were made at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is the operations center for the $10 billion observatory that was launched in December last year.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
Webb, which is considered a marvel of engineering, is capable of gazing farther into the cosmos than any other telescope before it. This is thanks to its enormous primary mirror and its instruments that focus on infrared, which allows it to peer through dust and gas which are found nearly everywhere in the universe.
Nelson said that the space telescope is going to explore objects in the solar system and the atmospheres of exoplanets orbiting other stars. The findings would give astronomers clues as to whether potentially their atmospheres are similar to our planet's.
Pam Melroy, NASA's deputy administrator, said that the "first light" images touched him greatly as a scientist, engineer, and human being. The term generally refers to the first time a telescope is used to make scientific observations after it has undergone tests and calibrations. Zurbuchen added that it was difficult to not look at the universe in a new light and not just have a moment that he called "deeply personal," Fox News reported.
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