BULLETIN
JWST unveils its first images
The incredible pictures took just one week of observing time to create
After decades of waiting, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has released its first scientific images to the public.
“Today, we present humanity with a ground-breaking new view of the cosmos – aview the world has never seen before,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson.
On 11 July, President Joe Biden was given an advance view of the images, and thanked “the team at NASA for once again showing who we are”.
The first deep-field image was released that evening. The next day, on 12 July, NASA released three more images, as well as a spectra of exoplanet WASP-96b’s atmosphere, which showed clear signs of water. Before long, the images were shared on news channels and social media the world over, as people marvelled at the unprecedented detail in the images – all of which were taken within a single week of observing time.
“The Hubble Deep Field was two weeks of continuous work with Hubble. We did [ours] before breakfast,” says Jane Rigby, operational project scientist for JWST. “The amazing thing about Webb is the speed with which we can churn out discoveries.”
But while the images stunned the world, a report on JWST’s performance revealed an unexpectedly large micrometorite strike in May has caused a “significant uncorrectable change” to one of the mirror segments. Fortunately it only affects a small area and JWST is still performing above expectations.
To see the first images turn to Eye on the Sky, and learn more about the science that JWST is set to deliver in the feature JWST begins its Science Journey. webbtelescope.org
Comment by Chris Lintott
I was wrong. Utterly, wonderfully wrong. For over a decade, I’ve flinched when space agency press releases described JWST as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Though both are incredible tools for science, Hubble is best known for its spectacular images. JWST, though, is an infrared telescope; working with wavelengths beyond what our eyes can see inevitably makes the view blurrier. Setting up JWST as a machine capable of producing images as beautiful as Hubble’s, no matter their scientific utility, was asking for disappointment.
Wrong, as I said. I have the JWST image of the Carina Nebula as my laptop background, and Stephan’s Quintet on my phone. It turns out that a mirror six metres across is large – large enough to produce crystal-clear, pin-pricksharp images to wow the world.
Welcome to the infrared Universe! Beautiful, isn’t it?
Chris Lintott co-presents The Sky at Night