The latest pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope show that it is not only capable of observing cosmic objects that are far away from Earth.
On Thursday, NASA unveiled Webb’s first images of the solar system, which includes Jupiter and a circling asteroid. According to Mashable, these images were taken by engineers when the observatory’s instruments were first being tested. The images show that Webb is able to pick up fainter objects as well as see unique details on extremely spectacular and moving objects near Earth.
The telescope’s guiding sensors, which enable Webb to point, capture and track with precision, are to thank for this feat.
According to Klaus Pontopidan, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, NASA officials debated placing local targets in the initial batch of breathtaking distant space photos, but ultimately chose a more cautious course. “We didn’t want to rely on working target observations, keeping things too complicated,” he said.
Oho @NASASolarSystemReady for your close-up? As part of Webb’s preparation for science, we tested how the telescope tracks solar system objects like Jupiter. Webb did a better job than expected, and even caught Jupiter’s moon Europa: https://t.co/zNHc724h9X pic.twitter.com/tW9AT5ah6T
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) 14 July 2022
“As it actually turns out, we probably could have done that.” After the first set of full-color scientific photographs of Webb were unveiled by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency two days ago, further images were released.
For the $10 billion telescope, the occasion marked the beginning of science operations. According to astronomers, Webb is expected to usher in a golden age in the study of the universe.
According to NASA, the images of Jupiter don’t look as vivid as we saw on Tuesday, because they weren’t processed in the same way. Instead, they look like sepia-toned photographs of the Wild West. Instead these were made to highlight certain features. A view from the telescope’s near-infrared camera shows clear bands around the gas giant planet, as well as the Great Red Spot, a permanent storm large enough to “swallow Earth,” according to NASA.
To the left of the spot is the shadow of Europa, one of the moons orbiting Jupiter. Other moons in these images include Thebe and Metis. The US space agency said all these details were captured with an exposure of about one minute. Scientists are relieved that Webb has passed the vision test. This means that it will take pictures of the moons and rings not only of Jupiter, but also of Saturn and Mars. Astronomers are also looking forward to investigating vapor plumes emanating from Europa and Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, places that could harbor oceans.
But the team also wanted to know how fast an object can move and still be seen by telescope, which is important for astronomers who want to study flying space rocks. To test Webb’s limits, engineers attempted to track an asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, 6481 Tenzing. They were not disappointed.
“We had a speed limit of 30. [milliarcseconds per second]Which could be as fast as Mars,” said Jane Rigby, a NASA project scientist.
“We really broke through it. We managed to get to the speed limit of 67, so we can track targets faster than we promised.”
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