As the Webb team wraps up the final tests for commissioning this week, we are now only days away from the public release of the first images and spectra on July 12! This also means that Webb is moving into the phase of full science operations that includes a highly impressive suite of science programs from the solar system to the distant universe. The entire Webb team is ready to celebrate the long journey to this point and embark on the next few decades of groundbreaking infrared astronomy.
Thanks for that link. I have been eagerly awaiting the first images from Webb ever since they were announced, but didn't know when or where to look for them yet. I will definitely be checking them...
Thanks for that link. I have been eagerly awaiting the first images from Webb ever since they were announced, but didn't know when or where to look for them yet. I will definitely be checking them out on the 12th now! :)
What constantly blows my mind is that basically all of Star Trek — all those alien races, spatial anomalies, and strange new worlds — occurs within one galaxy. Which, as these deep field images...
What constantly blows my mind is that basically all of Star Trek — all those alien races, spatial anomalies, and strange new worlds — occurs within one galaxy. Which, as these deep field images keep showing us, is a teeny tiny thing in the enormity of the universe.
Even Kirk could never dream of traveling to any of these places.
NASA’s press conference where Biden is set to reveal the first photos should be starting any minute now, for those who want to watch along: NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV Edit: It’s had...
NASA’s press conference where Biden is set to reveal the first photos should be starting any minute now, for those who want to watch along: NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV
Edit: It’s had “Will begin momentarily” on screen for the past half hour. :( I will reply to this comment when it actually starts.
SMACS 0723 (SMACS J0723.3-7327) is a cluster of galaxies in the Volan constellation. Compare today's image from JWST with the image taken by Hubble. (scaled, cropped, and rotated) Full, unmodified...
SMACS 0723 (SMACS J0723.3-7327) is a cluster of galaxies in the Volan constellation.
Carina Nebula: The Carina Nebula is one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky, located approximately 7,600 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. Nebulae are stellar nurseries where stars form. The Carina Nebula is home to many massive stars, several times larger than the Sun.
WASP-96 b (spectrum): WASP-96 b is a giant planet outside our solar system, composed mainly of gas. The planet, located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, orbits its star every 3.4 days. It has about half the mass of Jupiter, and its discovery was announced in 2014.
Southern Ring Nebula: The Southern Ring, or “Eight-Burst” nebula, is a planetary nebula – an expanding cloud of gas, surrounding a dying star. It is nearly half a light-year in diameter and is located approximately 2,000 light years away from Earth.
Stephan’s Quintet: About 290 million light-years away, Stephan’s Quintet is located in the constellation Pegasus. It is notable for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1877. Four of the five galaxies within the quintet are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters. NASA Shares List of Cosmic Targets for Webb Telescope’s First Images
For fun, today's pic got leaked on 4chan about 20min before official release.
Yes! The thing to realize is even with these very first images, because JWST is able to see in detail no telescope has had before there's a ton of low hanging fruit. In the case of this image, one of the big outstanding questions is a feature called the UV luminosity function, which tells you the star formation rate in those early galaxies. If you literally just count up the number of galaxies you see in those first JWST images, you'll already know more about the star formation rate in the early universe than we do now! Further, when you study the gravitational lensing pattern, you can learn about those foreground galaxies- things like their mass, and how the dark matter is distributed around them. OMG this is gonna be so neat!
Ah that explains a lot. There is actually just as much lensing going on in the original Hubble version of the same shot, but it's just a bit harder to notice. Thanks for sharing all that info. cc:...
Ah that explains a lot. There is actually just as much lensing going on in the original Hubble version of the same shot, but it's just a bit harder to notice. Thanks for sharing all that info. cc: @Amarok, @balooga
Yeah, the new clarity and level of detail is so much better. Going back and forth between them shows so many new galaxies too. It's breathtaking, humbling, and genuinely gave me goosebumps.
Yeah, the new clarity and level of detail is so much better. Going back and forth between them shows so many new galaxies too. It's breathtaking, humbling, and genuinely gave me goosebumps.
Yeah, I was just comparing it to the Ultra Deep Field and it's very apparent. I'm too much of a layperson to recognize what's happening here but I am going to be gobbling up every explainer video...
Yeah, I was just comparing it to the Ultra Deep Field and it's very apparent. I'm too much of a layperson to recognize what's happening here but I am going to be gobbling up every explainer video I can find in the next few days!
Total speculation, but they may not have had enough time to fully process the image yet to reduce some of the distortion, like they might have done with previous deep field images(?). But it could...
Total speculation, but they may not have had enough time to fully process the image yet to reduce some of the distortion, like they might have done with previous deep field images(?). But it could also be that the area they decided to capture first has a particularly strong gravity field somewhere in between Webb and many of the other galaxies in the image (notice how the lensing effect seems to be revolving around the one white galaxy in the very centre of the image, slightly below the biggest blue-white one). And it could also be that when zooming in that much, more lensing is just par for the course since we’re focusing on such a tiny sliver of the sky.
I too am looking forward to hearing from people smarter than me in the coming days/weeks enlightening me on what caused this issue though.
I very much doubt it's a coincidence. They were probably looking at Hubble images when they decided what photos to take first. And gravitational lensing is a good way to see the early universe.
I very much doubt it's a coincidence. They were probably looking at Hubble images when they decided what photos to take first. And gravitational lensing is a good way to see the early universe.
How to see Webb's first images
Thanks for that link. I have been eagerly awaiting the first images from Webb ever since they were announced, but didn't know when or where to look for them yet. I will definitely be checking them out on the 12th now! :)
p.s. Countdown timer site, HYPE!!!!
Finally some new wallpapers for modern HiDPI screens :)
These photos are stunning and leave me with so many questions. Incredible.
I live in constant regret that I don't live in a Star Trek era when we can visit all these worlds FTL.
What constantly blows my mind is that basically all of Star Trek — all those alien races, spatial anomalies, and strange new worlds — occurs within one galaxy. Which, as these deep field images keep showing us, is a teeny tiny thing in the enormity of the universe.
Even Kirk could never dream of traveling to any of these places.
NASA’s press conference where Biden is set to reveal the first photos should be starting any minute now, for those who want to watch along:
NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV
Edit: It’s had “Will begin momentarily” on screen for the past half hour. :( I will reply to this comment when it actually starts.
It’s actually started now.
Edit: Well that was weirdly short.
Link to the image, Webb’s First Deep Field:
https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages
Fucking crazy.
SMACS 0723 (SMACS J0723.3-7327) is a cluster of galaxies in the Volan constellation.
Compare today's image from JWST with the image taken by Hubble. (scaled, cropped, and rotated)
Full, unmodified Hubble image (24MB)
Tomorrow we'll get images of the targets:
NASA Shares List of Cosmic Targets for Webb Telescope’s First Images
For fun, today's pic got leaked on 4chan about 20min before official release.
Andromeda321 on reddit offers: (partial quote)
Ah that explains a lot. There is actually just as much lensing going on in the original Hubble version of the same shot, but it's just a bit harder to notice. Thanks for sharing all that info. cc: @Amarok, @balooga
Stark contrast when viewing them side by side. Webb makes it really pop, and the lensing just leaps out. Hubble's image is so much fainter.
Yeah, the new clarity and level of detail is so much better. Going back and forth between them shows so many new galaxies too. It's breathtaking, humbling, and genuinely gave me goosebumps.
Is it just me, or is there a lot more lensing in that picture than we normally see in deep field images?
Yeah, I was just comparing it to the Ultra Deep Field and it's very apparent. I'm too much of a layperson to recognize what's happening here but I am going to be gobbling up every explainer video I can find in the next few days!
Total speculation, but they may not have had enough time to fully process the image yet to reduce some of the distortion, like they might have done with previous deep field images(?). But it could also be that the area they decided to capture first has a particularly strong gravity field somewhere in between Webb and many of the other galaxies in the image (notice how the lensing effect seems to be revolving around the one white galaxy in the very centre of the image, slightly below the biggest blue-white one). And it could also be that when zooming in that much, more lensing is just par for the course since we’re focusing on such a tiny sliver of the sky.
I too am looking forward to hearing from people smarter than me in the coming days/weeks enlightening me on what caused this issue though.
I very much doubt it's a coincidence. They were probably looking at Hubble images when they decided what photos to take first. And gravitational lensing is a good way to see the early universe.