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https://theconversation.com/10-times-this-year-the-webb-telescope-blew-us-away-with-new-images-of-our-stunning-universe-194739>
"It is no exaggeration to say the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) represents
a new era for modern astronomy.
Launched on December 25 last year and fully operational since July, the
telescope offers glimpses of the universe that were inaccessible to us before.
Like the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST is in space, so it can take pictures
with stunning detail free from the distortions of Earth’s atmosphere.
However, while Hubble is in orbit around Earth at an altitude of 540km, the
JWST is
1.5 million kilometres distant, far beyond the Moon. From this
position, away from the interference of our planet’s reflected heat, it can
collect light from across the universe far into the infrared portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
This ability, when combined with the JWST’s larger mirror, state-of-the-art
detectors, and many other technological advances, allows astronomers to look
back to the universe’s earliest epochs.
As the universe expands, it stretches the wavelength of light travelling
towards us, making more distant objects appear redder. At great enough
distances, the light from a galaxy is shifted entirely out of the visible part
of the electromagnetic spectrum to the infrared. The JWST is able to probe such
sources of light right back to the earliest times, nearly 14 billion years ago.
The Hubble telescope continues to be a great scientific instrument and can see
at optical wavelengths where the JWST cannot. But the Webb telescope can see
much further into the infrared with greater sensitivity and sharpness.
Let’s have a look at ten images that have demonstrated the staggering power of
this new window to the universe."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
