To coin a phrase, fusion energy forever seems right around the corner, and so does the James
Webb space telescope. But after much waiting and anticipation, it seems that the wait is almost
over and the telescope will launch on December 18th of this year. Fingers crossed for a
successful launch, but it’s worth noting that the launch system that will put the telescope in space
is among the most reliable. So once it gets in space, just what will the telescope do?
To answer that, here are 10 mysteries the James Webb Space Telescope might solve.
Number 10. Planet Formation
One of the more unclear areas of planetary science is just how planets form in the first place. The
dynamics of the collapse of a protoplanetary disk into a planetary system is a complicated process,
with many things not well understood. James Webb is particularly useful here because all of that
dust and gas that forms those disks is difficult to study at optical wavelengths.
JWST on the other hand is an infrared telescope and do high resolution studies of these disks
and perhaps spot planets forming, or maybe even colliding.
It’s a good idea here to explain how JWST works, and why it’s not an optical wavelength telescope
like Hubble. The universe is chocked full of infrared emitting objects, but infrared astronomy
is difficult to do on the earth’s surface because of the atmosphere, which can block infrared,
but also emit it as heat and create interference. So this type of astronomy is best done in space.
We’ve had infrared capability in space before, but not at the resolution of JWST.
Infrared also affords opportunities to study objects that are obscured by
gas and dust in visible light. In the case of forming planets, this not only sheds light on
the ins and outs of how planets form, but how earth-like planets form. Was there something the
circumstances of the formation of the earth that somehow favored it for eventual life?
Are these circumstances rare or common? JWST may help to solve those mysteries.
Number 9. How the Universe Gets its Material
You’d think something so titanic as the big bang would have produced more than just four
types of atom. But the mechanism for how the big bang played out allowed for it to only create
a lot of hydrogen and helium, and trace amounts of lithium and Beryllium. Everything else
is the result of stars fusing atoms in their cores. When these stars explode as supernovas,
or neutron stars collide in kilonovas, then the heavier elements are produced.
That took time. So there are several ways JWST can probe how this process happens.
One of these is by studying the dust in the interstellar medium, which may not
sound that interesting, but in reality that dust is basically the product of supernovas
that can tell us how giant stars populate the universe with its heavier atoms. Those very
atoms are ultimately what we are. The materials of which we are made of, is mostly supernova ash.
Number 8. The Earliest Black Holes
One thing JWST will be able to shed light on are quasars, and matching them up to host galaxies.
A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus being powered by a supermassive black hole
early in the universe’s history. This is an area of study that’s already hinting
of mysterious discrepancies in that at least one supermassive black hole in
a quasar is quite a bit more massive than it models predict it should be.
Bear in mind that quasars are unbelievably distant objects, and the light from them has
taken most of the age of the universe to reach us, so we are literally looking at a stage of the
early universe when we study them. So these are snapshots of the early universe that provide us
opportunities to see if anything has changed, and what it was like back then.
If the supermassive black hole in question ends up being a fluke, or rare, it will be one thing.
But if many are found, or they are the norm, then we may have to go back to the drawing board
and rethink some aspects of our models of the early universe. JWST promises to help greatly in
solving, or even deepening, this mystery. Number 7. The Evolution of Galaxies
Galaxies change. And they can do it in several ways. One is through mergers,
where galaxies collide and absorb into each other,
often radically altering their former shape. They can also simply encounter each other and pass by,
causing gravitational effects. But even without that, the galaxies we see from
spirals to ellipticals and so on, evolved that way from originally different shapes.
JWST will look back at the earliest galaxies to try to understand that inherent evolution
and how it works, to arrive at the galaxies in the forms we see today. This is of particular
interest in another way, it would show us how matter itself organizes on large scales and could
conceivably lead to a better understanding of even larger structures, such as voids.
Number 6. The Question of Proxima B
Out of all of the thousands of exoplanet discoveries that have been made,
one stands out in that there is a planet in orbit of the closest star to the sun,
Proxima Centauri. And it’s orbiting within the habitable zone of that red dwarf,
and is only slightly more massive than earth, thought to be about 1.2 times earth’s mass. This
planet is at that level in an analogous situation to earth, so not only is it the closest exoplanet,
it also has the basic criteria for supporting life of some sort.
But we’re far from answering that question, and much characterization of proxima B
must be done before we can really put that on the table. The JWST will certainly be useful
in probing this planet, and possibly even characterizing its atmosphere.
But there is one odd thing here that JWST may be able to detect. Artificial lighting.
The thing about Proxima B is that it’s tidally locked, always presenting on face to its star.
These kinds of worlds have a different kind of habitability than what we’re used to.
The part of the planet facing the sun would likely not be habitable,
but the twilight edges might be able to support liquid water and life. Depending on atmospheric
and oceanic currents, it might be possible for the dark side of the planet to maintain
high enough temperatures for liquid water as well. If intelligent life could arise, or colonize such
a world, would it choose to light up the Night side to open it up for use?
This might be done through huge reflectors firing light back to the surface,
but also networks of artificial lighting to illuminate cities. This type of situation
should be bright enough for JWST to detect, and studies of the light itself should show signatures
of what’s causing it. As a result, JWST could, in principle, catch a technosignature at Proxima B.
If so, and given its close proximity, this would be a civilization we could directly interact with.
Number 5. The Oldest Material in the Solar System
Planets are dynamic, the original materials that they formed out of become
hopelessly mixed and jumbled through volcanism, bombardment and pressure
that very little old material exists on the terrestrial planets themselves.
This is not the case with some of the asteroids. While there are many meteorites that have been
affected by pressure, heat and shock, there are also ones that have not. There
are pristine objects in the solar system that haven’t changed much since they first accreted.
Studying asteroids with JWST is on the table,
and actually made rather easy because asteroids are widely distributed in the solar system
and there is always something bright enough for it to observe. In particular
is a mystery regarding the asteroid Ceres. It’s not known where exactly this asteroid is from.
It hints that it’s from the outer solar system originally through the chemistry we know about it,
which would make it a kind of pluto for the type, but it may just as easily be that the object is
a main belt asteroid that suffered an impact, or impacts, with outer solar system objects.
And it’s worth studying other asteroids and kuiper belt objects because they may
have a connection with life on earth. It may be that comets delivered the
initial chemical building blocks for life on earth for example, but the picture here
is incomplete. JWST is certain to help broaden our knowledge in this regard.
Another mystery here is that we have huge collections of meteorites here on earth for which
we don’t know what the parent body was. In some cases, we have strong suspicions, but in most we
just don’t know. Part of the problem confounding this issue is that we can’t get a close look at
even some of the largest asteroids due to their orbits, it’s too difficult to get a probe out to
them, so here JWST will be able to help by virtue of being in space and working at high resolution.
Number 4. Wildcards
We live in a strange period where we can look at the universe at a resolution that
was never before possible. Real time events in nature, at least from our perspective,
come into view very often now as evidenced by Oumuamua, Borisov, KIC 8462852 and so on.
This leaves little doubt that the coming years will see events of this nature, along with
even more transient events like supernovas with greater frequency. The instrumentation that allows
this is getting even better, such as with the LSST/Vera Rubin observatory, which will provide
nearly nightly all sky surveys revealing all manner of objects moving around in deep space.
The JWST offers a unique opportunity here in that time and a reaction plan to look
at these unforeseen events to shed even more light on them is built into the telescopes
allocation time and planning. So if something is spotted that it could add to the data regarding,
then they can swing the telescope around and take a look. How that plays out and what
mysteries will be solved, or revealed will be interesting to watch indeed.
Number 3. Sagittarius A*
One rather terrifying reality about our galaxy is that at the center of it sits a supermassive
black hole eating entire stars. Known as Sagittarius A star, this supermassive black
hole in some ways remains more of a mystery than other black holes in other galaxies.
For some reason, our galaxy’s supermassive black hole isn’t like other galaxies.
For some reason, our Galaxy’s supermassive blackhole, or rather its accretion disk flares.
This flaring, which varies on the order of hours,
actually makes it difficult to image the supermassive black hole and its surroundings,
which is why the first ever image, or at least reconstructed image of a black hole
was in the galaxy M87. This is probably due to temporary accelerations of material to higher
energies causing the flashes, but the mechanism for this is a mystery. So the best way to get a
handle on the situation is to image it at multiple wavelengths, and JWST will have infrared covered.
Number 2. Exoplanet Atmospheres
Exoplanet atmospheres are not well understood yet. But what can be said is that there are any
number of possible variations. There are very probably atmospheres very much like
those we see in our solar system, but also ones very different from what we have here.
Obviously the most interesting would be atmospheres doing strange things like earth, where
you have odd oxygen levels and methane levels that are best explained by the presence of life.
So far there has been quite a bit of work done characterizing the chemical components of various
exoplanets. But most currently still lay out of reach, but JWST will greatly expand our ability
to study exoplanet atmospheres, even those like Earth if we find them. But detecting things like
water vapor, methane, oxygen, sodium, are all on the table. But it’s unclear just how far
those could go, and what puzzling atmospheres will be found. And the most puzzling may be
atmospheres bearing gases that as far as we know right now could only be produced by industry.
Number 1. The First Stars
It can be said that telescopes are a kind of time machine.
When you look at an object in space, you are seeing it as it was in the past.
In other words, if you’re looking at something a hundred light years away,
you’re seeing it as it was a hundred years ago. This works across the vast distances of space, so
it’s possible to see objects as they were shortly after their formation just after the big bang.
How stars were during the early history of the universe is different from today. Today we see
modern stars as having all sorts of elements that didn’t yet exist in the early universe,
where it was all hydrogen, helium and trace elements.
What needed to happen is for supernovas to populate the universe with heavier elements.
JWST should show us extremely early, albeit distant stars, as much as 13.6 billion years old
in a universe just 13.8 billion years old. These will no doubt be primitive stars, but what happens
if there are surprises and elements we do not expect show up? We shall hopefully soon know.
Thanks for listening! I am futurist and science fiction author John Michael Godier currently
concerned about fall. Ah such beauty in the northern hemisphere, orange leaves on trees,
and the closing of the gardening year. And the coinciding mass die off of plants. It
frosted and let’s say my cucumbers and tomatoes are beyond a little pekid… but
they are plotting with my unwitting help and their seeds to make a comeback in spring.
I am a stooge and hostage of the plants. John Michael Godier youtuber and plant stooge,
not good and be sure to check out my books at your favorite online book retailer
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weird and unknown aspects of this amazing universe in which we live.