welcome to lab360 for all the news and videos from the world of astronomy a new era in astronomy
starts in july ever since december 2021 we have been patiently waiting for the jwsd to start
operations in full capacity nasa had told us time after time that the webb telescope will be fully
functional in summer of 2022 it brings us great joy to tell you that you can finally save the date
the first full color photos and spectroscopic data from nasa's james webb space telescope
a collaboration with the european space agency and the canadian space agency will be released on july
12 2022 webb has been going through a six-month phase of preparation before it can begin science
work it is calibrating its sensors to its space environment and aligning its mirrors and living up
to its name as the largest and most sophisticated observatory ever launched into orbit years of new
technology development and mission planning have culminated in the first photographs and data
a display of web at full capacity ready to begin its science mission and reveal the infrared cosmos
is muchly awaited we are on the verge of an extremely exciting moment of discovery
about our universe as we near the end of preparing the observatory for science
webb's first full-color photographs will provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
for us all to pause and wonder at a vision that humanity has never seen before
the first photos and spectroscopic observations will be taken after each of webb's instruments
have been calibrated tested and given the green light by its science and engineering teams
to put webb's powerful capabilities to the test the team will go through a list
of targets that have been pre-selected and prioritized by an international committee
the production crew will then receive data from webb's instrument scientists and transform it
into photographs for astronomers and the general public so what can we expect to see while thorough
planning for webb's initial full-color photographs has been ongoing for some time the new telescope's
capability makes it difficult to forecast how the first images will look of course there are things
we're hoping to see but with a new telescope and this new high-resolution infrared data we won't
know until we see it early alignment images have already proven webb's infrared views unrivaled
sharpness these new photographs on the other hand will be the first to be in full color and to show
off webb's full scientific capabilities web will capture spectroscopic data which is comprehensive
information that astronomers can read in light in addition to pictures the early cosmos
the evolution of galaxies through time the lifetime of stars and other worlds
are among the science themes that inspired the project and will be the focus of its work
webb's commissioning data which includes measurements acquired while aligning the telescope
and configuring the equipment will be made public as well you must be wondering what's next for
web in simple words science web scientific observations will continue when it captures
its initial photographs continuing to examine the mission's main science themes teams have already
filed for time to utilize the telescope and what astronomers refer to as its first cycle or first
year of observations the official start of webb's general science operations the task it was built
to undertake is marked by these observations web will be used by astronomers to observe the
infrared universe evaluate the data and publish scientific publications based on their findings
aside from what is already planned for web astronomers cannot predict the unexpected findings
for example dark energy was completely unknown before the hubble space telescope
was launched in 1990 it is now one of the most fascinating fields of astronomy
this just gets us more excited for what web will learn in the future what do you guys think drop in
your comments below and don't forget to subscribe to lab360 for all the news and videos from
the world of astronomy nasa's james webb space telescope is just weeks away from full operation
with its mirror segments perfectly aligned and scientific equipment undergoing calibration
webb's in-depth science will begin soon after the first observations are made public this summer
the lava covered 55 concrete e and the airless lhs 3844b are two hot exoplanets
designated as super earths due to their size and rocky composition and are among the investigations
scheduled for the first year webb's high precision spectrographs will be trained on these planets in
order to better comprehend the geologic diversity of planets throughout the galaxy as well as the
evolution of rocky planets like earth 55 concrete orbits its sun-like star at a distance of fewer
than 1.5 million miles one-fifth the distance between mercury and the sun completing one round
in less than 18 hours the day side of the planet is supposed to be covered in oceans of lava due to
surface temperatures being higher than the average melting point of ordinary rock forming minerals
planets that orbit their star this close are thought to be tidally locked with one side always
facing the star as a result the hottest place on the planet should be the one that faces the star
the most directly and the amount of heat emitted during the day should remain relatively constant
while 55 concrete will reveal the fascinating geology of a world engulfed in lava lhs 3844b
will present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study solid rocks on an exoplanet's surface
lhs 3844b like 55 concrete e orbits its star very close completing one revolution in 11 hours
the planet however is not hot enough for the surface to be molten because its star is small
and cool furthermore spitzer's observations show that the planet is unlikely to have
a significant atmosphere while webb won't be able to image the surface of lhs 3844b directly
the lack of an obscuring atmosphere will allow spectroscopy to be used to analyze the surface
the researchers will utilize miri to capture the thermal emission spectrum of lhs 3844 b's dayside
then compare it to spectra of known rocks like basalt and granite to figure out what
it is made of the spectrum could reveal the presence of tiny amounts of volcanic gases
if the planet is volcanically active the significance of these discoveries
extends far beyond just two of the galaxies more than five thousand verified exoplanets
they'll open up incredible new perspectives on earth like planets in general allowing us to learn
more about what life was like on the early earth when it was as hot as these planets are now webb's
cycle 1 general observers program will undertake these observations of 55 concrete e and lhs 3844b
we're just a few months away from obtaining much awaited valuable data about these kinds of planets
to summarize it all consider what might happen if earth were substantially closer to the sun
so close that a year is only a few hours long gravity will have confined one hemisphere and
perpetual scorching daylight and the other in unending darkness because they are so close
so close that the oceans boil rocks begin to melt and lava starts to rain from the clouds while
nothing like this exists in our own solar system these kinds of planets do exist somewhere in the
milky way what are the true characteristics of these planet surfaces and atmospheres
stay tuned as the james webb space telescope is about to deliver some answers what do you
guys think drop in your comments below and don't forget to subscribe to lab360
for all the news and videos from the world of astronomy
welcome to lab360 for all the news and videos from the world of astronomy while nasa's james
webb space telescope is moving through the final phases of commissioning its science instruments
work has also begun on technical operations of the observatory as the telescope moves through
space it will constantly find distant stars and galaxies and point at them with extreme
precision to acquire images and spectra however nasa plans to observe planets and their satellites
asteroids and comets in our solar system which move across the background stars of our galaxy
webb needs to be able to lock onto these objects and track them with sufficient precision
to obtain images and spectra the web team recently completed the first test to track a moving object
the test verified that webb could conduct moving target science
as the team moves forward through commissioning they will test other objects moving at various
speeds to verify that they can study objects with web that move throughout the solar system webb can
detect the faint light of the earliest galaxies but the team will be observing much closer to home
they will use web to unravel some of the mysteries that abound in our own solar system
planetary scientists use telescopes to complement their in-situ missions
missions that are sent to fly by orbit or land on objects one example of this
is how hubble was used to find the post-pluto target for the new horizons mission erikoff
however the telescopes are also used there are no in-situ missions planned like for the distant ice
giants uranus and neptune or to make measurements of large populations of objects such as hundreds
of asteroids or kuiper belt objects since nasa can only send missions to just a few of these
the web team has already used an asteroid within our solar system to run engineering tests of the
moving target capability our solar system has far more mysteries than any team could have the time
to solve but programs such as this will observe objects across the solar system by imaging the
giant planets and saturn's rings exploring many kuiper belt objects analyzing the atmosphere of
mars executing detailed studies of titan and much more there are also other teams planning
observations in its first year seven percent of webb's time will be focused on objects within
our solar system another exciting and challenging program in the works is to observe ocean worlds
there's evidence from the hubble space telescope that jupiter's moon europa has sporadic plumes of
water-rich material scientists plan to take high-resolution imagery of europa to study
its surface and search for plume activity and active geologic processes teams at nasa have been
planning for web observations for decades and that has gone into overdrive now that the observatory
is launched deployed and focused do you think webb will find microbial life in our solar system
will it be able to tell us if europa and titan can harness life drop in your comments to let us know
and don't forget to subscribe to LAB 360 for all the news and videos from the world of astronomy