James Webb Telescope

[Blue Mountain]

Depends on the instrument. NIRCAM can reach into the reds, but I think the images released so far are from MIRI, which can't get close. Shortest it is supposed to see is 5 microns, or 5000 nm. We won't see anything longer than 800 nm.

This image: Webb Telescope Image Sharpness Check has images from all the sensors. It's fascinating that the fine guidance sensor, which is used only as part of the telescope's operation and doesn't do any science, has an amazing resolution.

 

[Samson]

Makes sense to me. For public interest, translate the spectra into ones that we can differentiate using our spectra-differentiating sense, even though the image comes from photons outside our visual range. For scientific purposes, other more precise encodings can be used instead.

The light of interest it's supposed to be observing, once it's fully in operation, is not visible to humans. Any visible-to-humans light it might sense is just in the way (unless it discovers unexpected and by current cosmological models impossible anomalies).

In fact an accurate representation as seen by much earlier intelligent life.

 

[zooterkin]

In fact an accurate representation as seen by much earlier intelligent life.

 

[Myriad]

The light of interest it's supposed to be observing, once it's fully in operation, is not visible to humans. Any visible-to-humans light it might sense is just in the way (unless it discovers unexpected and by current cosmological models impossible anomalies).

This is wrong. My apologies. I was thinking of observation of high-Z (early universe) objects. For other scientific missions such as exoplanet surveys, the visible reds included in the detection range of the near infrared instruments are presumably useful.

 

[Beelzebuddy]

https://www.universetoday.com/15568...compare-webb-to-other-infrared-observatories/

*exhales*

Happy to be wrong about its odds. There were a LOT of eggs in that basket.

I wonder if everything is going be just red with this telescope?

Technically everything's gray. But since the filter is an infrared one, it's tinted reddish for human consumption to let colors further distinguish gradations in brightness. If it were a UV filter it would have been tinted bluish or purplish instead.

 

[slyjoe]

*exhales*

Happy to be wrong about its odds. There were a LOT of eggs in that basket.


Technically everything's gray. But since the filter is an infrared one, it's tinted reddish for human consumption to let colors further distinguish gradations in brightness. If it were a UV filter it would have been tinted bluish or purplish instead.

The Webb instruments can only detect over a given wavelength of electromagnetic spectrum.

 

[Beelzebuddy]

The Webb instruments can only detect over a given wavelength of electromagnetic spectrum.

Yes, it's the filters that do that. They let the rest of the optics and the sensors focus on grabbing every photon they can reach without worrying about chromatic aberration. But the upshot is that the image out the back is grayscale, just a calibrated measure of the photons at each pixel. It doesn't get colorized until it gets prettied up for display purposes.

 

[Puppycow]

Meaning that the light has been red shifted a lot so some of the infrared light that the telescope sees will have started out as visible light.

 

[ynot]

James Webb Target Acquired: A Super-Earth Covered in Lava Oceans

Hopefully not long to wait now . . .

 

[a_unique_person]

James Webb Target Acquired: A Super-Earth Covered in Lava Oceans

Hopefully not long to wait now . . .

What are they going to use? Nukes?

 

[Samson]

What are they going to use? Nukes?

Don't look up lol

 

[Puppycow]

Well it’s June. It’s been over 5 full months since Christmas Day. I think it’s supposed to be sometime this month when the commissioning process is supposed to be completed. Very excited to see the first real images from this thing. I’m most interested in learning about exoplanets but it will all be very interesting stuff.

 

[Mike Helland]

Well it’s June. It’s been over 5 full months since Christmas Day. I think it’s supposed to be sometime this month when the commissioning process is supposed to be completed. Very excited to see the first real images from this thing. I’m most interested in learning about exoplanets but it will all be very interesting stuff.

So far none of the instruments have completed commisioning.

https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

 

[Blue Mountain]

NASA has a webb page with a countdown to the first images. As of right now it says July 12, 2022.

 

[arthwollipot]

NASA has a webb page...

I see what you did there.

 

[Puppycow]

NASA has a webb page with a countdown to the first images. As of right now it says July 12, 2022.

Oh, I was going to post about that. Here's the announcement:

First Images From NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Coming Soon

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), will release its first full-color images and spectroscopic data on July 12, 2022. As the largest and most complex observatory ever launched into space, Webb has been going through a six-month period of preparation before it can begin science work, calibrating its instruments to its space environment and aligning its mirrors. This careful process, not to mention years of new technology development and mission planning, has built up to the first images and data: a demonstration of Webb at its full power, ready to begin its science mission and unfold the infrared universe.

“As we near the end of preparing the observatory for science, we are on the precipice of an incredibly exciting period of discovery about our universe. The release of Webb’s first full-color images will offer a unique moment for us all to stop and marvel at a view humanity has never seen before,” said Eric Smith, Webb program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These images will be the culmination of decades of dedication, talent, and dreams – but they will also be just the beginning.”

What Will We See?

While careful planning for Webb’s first full-color images has been underway for a long time, the new telescope is so powerful that it is difficult to predict exactly how the first images will look. “Of course, there are things we are expecting and hoping to see, but with a new telescope and this new high-resolution infrared data, we just won’t know until we see it,” said STScI’s lead science visuals developer Joseph DePasquale.

Early alignment imagery has already demonstrated the unprecedented sharpness of Webb’s infrared view. However, these new images will be the first in full color and the first to showcase Webb’s full science capabilities. In addition to imagery, Webb will be capturing spectroscopic data – detailed information astronomers can read in light. The first images package of materials will highlight the science themes that inspired the mission and will be the focus of its work: the early universe, the evolution of galaxies through time, the lifecycle of stars, and other worlds. All of Webb’s commissioning data – the data taken while aligning the telescope and preparing the instruments – will also be made publicly available.

Now we have a specific date to put on our calendars! Full color showcase images coming!

 

[Pixel42]

So the original estimate of six months from launch to being ready to do science was pretty accurate then.

 

[3point14]

So the original estimate of six months from launch to being ready to do science was pretty accurate then.

These people are very, very good at their jobs.

 

[Blue Mountain]

I see what you did there.

 

[Ziggurat]

So the original estimate of six months from launch to being ready to do science was pretty accurate then.

These people are very, very good at their jobs.

Nonsense. They originally said the mission might only last for 5 years, and now they're saying it might last up to 20. That's a terribly inaccurate prediction, and proves that they're garbage at their jobs.