The James Webb Telescope

[JEDI]

I'm hell of impressed that they got it out there, assembled and it's actually working just about as well as envisioned, designed, built, tested, etc. To me it's more impressive than the moon landings and Mars explorers.

given that the moon landings were done with a computer that had less computing power than cheap Android 10 cell phones, i think they're more impressive.

did nasa do a practice run in putting the telescope together here on Earth?

 

[Muse]

given that the moon landings were done with a computer that had less computing power than cheap Android 10 cell phones, i think they're more impressive.

did nasa do a practice run in putting the telescope together here on Earth?

Well, kind of, but no 1G gravity and zero atmosphere out where they had to do it were rather different conditions.

 

[Steltek]

Pretty incredible. The lensing effect is really interesting, is that caused by black holes?

The lensing effect is occurring because massive foreground galaxies are literally warping space and time between them. The area of warped space then acts like a lens to focus and magnify light from background sources approaching through the warped space. Webb is simply observing the area of the warped space.

Even objects the size of the sun cause an observable lensing effect during solar eclipses (which was actually how they proved Einstein 's theory was right, using observations made during the 1919 solar eclipse).

Just goes to show how so much smarter Einstein was than all the rest of us. I can't even imagine what he might have come up with if he had the opportunity to examine an image like that.

 

[brianmanahan]

Just goes to show how so much smarter Einstein was than all the rest of us. I can't even imagine what he might have come up with if he had the opportunity to examine an image like that.

thankfully today we have a similar level of genius in saltynuts who will be able to use these observations when developing the universal theory of everything

 

[dank69]

Kinda makes you think how insignificant we all are. Like, we're basically slime compared to the scientists and engineers that made the telescope.

https://imgur.com/eFa2nHI

 

[SKORPI0]

 

[Amused]

For all your high res Webb pics:

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Flicker Page

 

[brianmanahan]

dang

 

[brianmanahan]

God I just hope it all works. That looks like a lot of mechanical deployments.

@Jeff7 good news

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

The lensing effect is really interesting, is that caused by black holes?

Caused by the gravitational pull of the galaxy in the center of the image.

What is that big bright star in the middle of the pic?

Galaxy. Big 'ol galaxy.

 

[Amused]

OK, this is huge. Go play with this. Zoom in and out and use the opacity slide to see just how much more the JWST can see.

Explore JWST’s first images in full resolution!

Pan and zoom into the new images on a sky map using AAS WorldWide Telescope.

web.wwtassets.org

 

[IronWing]

Explain the foreground opacity slider. Is it the same area as seen from Hubble or Earth?


Edit: Also, anything with a lens flare is a star, anything w/o is a galaxy or nebula, correct?

 

[Artorias]

OK, this is huge. Go play with this. Zoom in and out and use the opacity slide to see just how much more the JWST can see.

Explore JWST’s first images in full resolution!

Pan and zoom into the new images on a sky map using AAS WorldWide Telescope.

web.wwtassets.org

Truly magical.

 

[Amused]

Explain the foreground opacity slider. Is it the same area as seen from Hubble or Earth?


Edit: Also, anything with a lens flare is a star, anything w/o is a galaxy or nebula, correct?

"AAS WorldWide Telescope is a tool for showcasing astronomical data and knowledge.
Launch the Web Client!
It’s not a physical telescope — it’s a suite of free and open source software and data sets that combine to create stunning scientific visualizations and stories."

So, the background is a collection ground telescope images.

 

[eelw]

Edit: Also, anything with a lens flare is a star, anything w/o is a galaxy or nebula, correct?

Well a bright object. We’re bound to get actual images of pulsars or supernova with JWST. But the flare is light reflecting off of the frame holding the secondary mirror.

 

[Mai72]

Did they see God?

 

[JEDI]

OK, this is huge. Go play with this. Zoom in and out and use the opacity slide to see just how much more the JWST can see.

Explore JWST’s first images in full resolution!

Pan and zoom into the new images on a sky map using AAS WorldWide Telescope.

web.wwtassets.org

hubble vs webb pics of same object:

Comparing Webb's First Photos to What Hubble Saw

Truly next level.

petapixel.com

 

[JEDI]

so if a galaxy is only 8000 light years away, then shouldnt the light the telescope is seeing only 8k years old?

How did they get 13B years ago? (almost the birth of the Universe)

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

so if a galaxy is only 8000 light years away, then shouldnt the light the telescope is seeing only 8k years old?

How did they get 13B years ago? (almost the birth of the Universe)

There's nuance due to the expansion of the universe but yes, something that close should have emitted the light 8k years ago. Where are you getting 13B light age from something 8k LY away?

 

[eelw]

so if a galaxy is only 8000 light years away, then shouldnt the light the telescope is seeing only 8k years old?

How did they get 13B years ago? (almost the birth of the Universe)

Only the deep field image is from 13 billion years ago. Other images, they mentioned distance of them

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Didn't Carl show stuff like this on Cosmos?

 

[JEDI]

2 Nebula colliding that looks like a Cosmic bat?!
(Rno 90 + 91)

pic might be from Hubble and not Webb

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

^^^ Nope. Looks like a Shadow ship.

 

[JEDI]

Wonder if Webb can find the remains of Krypton?

 

[SKORPI0]