New Mars Forums

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

James Webb Telescope adjustments bring stars more into focus

https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Jame … s_999.html

The space agency said it completed the second and third of a seven-phase process to bring the telescope's 18 mirrors into proper alignment. NASA said it will now begin making smaller adjustments to the mirrors to make images even more in focus.

The first image released earlier this month featured a star in the Big Dipper known as HD 84406. Though it was just a single star, because the 18 mirrors are out of alignment, it showed up in the image as 18 separate points of light.

After an initial adjustment, those 18 points of light moved into a hexagonal shape

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Nasa’s new space telescope might detect alien civilisations – if they’re out there – by air pollution

https://www.independent.co.uk/space/jam … 20362.html

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Imagining an Earthly neighbor

https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Imag … r_999.html

These are exciting times for exoplanet research, moving from demography towards detailed characterization. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), successfully launched in December 2021, is projected to detect the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets transiting in front of M dwarfs - stars that are fainter than the Sun - orbiting within the 'habitable zone'.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in Chile, will be set up to directly image rocky exoplanets around nearby Sun-like stars by the end of the decade. Looking even further ahead, ambitious future space mission concepts are currently being explored, including the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE), which targets habitable-zone rocky exoplanets and their atmospheres.

ETH Zurich is leading or significantly involved in these and other observational infrastructures. Complementary research at the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics in the Department of Physics concerns numerical modelling, which is indispensable for understanding habitable-zone rocky exoplanets and in guiding the future observations and instrumentation development.

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

James Webb: 'Fully focused' telescope beats expectations

'To get to this stage, all of Webb's mirrors had to be aligned to tiny fractions of the width of a human hair.'

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60771210

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,877

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Yes images are getting better and still have a ways to go in the alignment still.

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 17,155

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

The post of SpaceNut #130 caught me by surprise, because I thought that the alignment of the mirrors was the last event.

Not so, as SpaceNut pointed out ...

From a NASA report ..

NASA has announced that its James Webb Space Telescope has reached another alignment milestone. On March 11, the Webb team completed the critical alignment stage known as 'fine phasing.'

Fine phasing is the fifth of seven major alignment steps. It is conducted three times, directly after each round of coarse phasing, and measures and corrects remaining alignment areas. NASA writes, 'These operations measure and correct the remaining alignment errors using the same defocusing method applied during Segment Alignment. However, instead of using the secondary mirror, we use special optical elements inside the science instrument which introduce varying amounts of defocus for each image (-8, -4, +4, and +8 waves of defocus).'

(th)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

JWST is looking awesome
https://twitter.com/gbrammer/status/1504369779540480002

‘Absolutely phenomenal’: Webb Telescope’s first images have scientists giddy
https://globalnews.ca/news/8690691/jame … st-images/

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

So I had seen that test pic linked on twitter and blogs

Webb’s optics and NIRCam are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. At this stage of Webb’s mirror alignment, known as “fine phasing,” each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument.

https://wonders-of-the-cosmos.tumblr.co … o-focus-on

'The diffraction pattern is created by the 18 hexagonal mirror segments of the James Webb Space Telescope.'

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220319.html

'2MASS J17554042+6551277 is about 2,000 light-years away and well within our own galaxy. But the galaxies scattered across the background of the Webb telescope alignment evaluation image are likely billions of light-years distant, far beyond the Milky Way.'

New James Webb Space Telescope photo showcases single star in key mission milestone
https://www.space.com/james-webb-space- … ment-photo
Once mirror alignment is complete — perhaps by early May, NASA said — the team's other major preparatory step is to calibrate the instruments aboard the observatory. That work is expected to be complete by this summer, when JWST will be able to begin its science observations.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-03-21 15:08:55)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Webb Completes First Multi-Instrument Alignment

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/04/01/ … +Telescope

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

The James Webb Telescope will help unlock the evolution of habitable worlds

https://interestingengineering.com/jame … ble-worlds

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Webb's Cool View on How Stars, Planets Form

http://spaceref.com/astronomy/webbs-coo … -form.html

The ongoing success of the multi-instrument optics alignment for NASA's Webb telescope's near-infrared instruments has moved the attention of the commissioning team to chill as we carefully monitor the cooling of the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) down to its final operating temperature of less than 7 kelvins (-447 degrees Fahrenheit, or -266 degrees Celsius).

We are continuing other activities during this slow cooldown which include monitoring the near-infrared instruments. As MIRI cools, other major components of the observatory, such as the backplane and mirrors, also continue to cool and are approaching their operational temperatures.

Last week, the Webb team did a station-keeping thruster burn to maintain Webb's position in orbit around the second Lagrange point. This was the second burn since Webb's arrival at its final orbit in January; these burns will continue periodically throughout the lifetime of the mission.

In the last few weeks, we have been sharing some of Webb's anticipated science, beginning with the study of the first stars and galaxies in the early universe. Today, we will see how Webb will peer within our own Milky Way galaxy at places where stars and planets form. Klaus Pontoppidan, the Space Telescope Science Institute project scientist for Webb, shares the cool science planned for star and planet formation with Webb:

"In the first year of science operations, we expect Webb to write entirely new chapters in the history of our origins - the formation of stars and planets. It is the study of star and planet formation with Webb that allows us to connect observations of mature exoplanets to their birth environments, and our solar system to its own origins. Webb's infrared capabilities are ideal for revealing how stars and planets form for three reasons: Infrared light is great at seeing through obscuring dust, it picks up the heat signatures of young stars and planets, and it reveals the presence of important chemical compounds, such as water and organic chemistry," said Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland.

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

James Webb Space Telescope's next-gen spectrograph can observe 100 galaxies in one go

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space- … ph-science

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Webb's coldest instrument reaches operating temperature

https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Webb … e_999.html

With help from a cryocooler, Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument has dropped down to just a few degrees above the lowest temperature matter can reach and is ready for calibration.

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is ready for calibration after chilling out
https://www.yahoo.com/news/james-webb-c … 04170.html
The JWST has been gradually cooling down ever since its successful December 25th launch, but the telescope took a major step forward on that front when it deployed its massive 70-foot sunshield at the start of the year. That component allowed JWST’s systems, including its critical Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), to drop to a temperature of approximately minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit (or about minus 183 degrees Celsius).

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Butterfly Nebula glows red in spectacular image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope
https://www.space.com/spitzer-telescope … -w40-photo

When Webb becomes operational this summer, it will be even more powerful than Spitzer, and the telescope will likely image astronomical sites such as the Butterfly Nebula in greater detail. Until then, you can peruse Spitzer's archives to see more magnificent photos of the universe.

https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/Missions/spitzer.html

Spitzer was Deactivated January 2020 its area of IR science will be done by the more powerful JWST

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-04-15 17:26:18)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

How far back in time is it possible to see?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/scie … 55367.html

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

cooling almost complete, new info on website show temperature plots.

https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunc … its=metric

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 17,155

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

For our members who are (rightly) concerned about boil-off of refrigerated propellants, the link provided by Mars_B4_Moon, in post #142 should provide a bit of encouragement.

The web site to which the link in post #142 points shows the current temperature in several locations in the James Webb Telescope.

In particular, I would like to point out that the cold side provides temperatures well below the boiling point of any of the liquids that are of interest for chemical or nuclear propulsion to and from Mars, or anywhere in the Solar system.

(th)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Evidence of farming on exoplanets should be visible to JWST

https://astronomy.com/news/2022/04/evid … james-webb

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

This mosaic represents a sparkling turning point as we UnfoldTheUniverse.
https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1519756564772630528
NASAWebb’s mirrors are now fully aligned! Next is instrument calibration, the final phase before Webb is ready for science

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

'We have spent the past two years understanding and modeling why we see this artifact.

It showed up in lab measurements also, so we knew we had to understand it. In fact, the similar Si:As Ch 3 and 4 detectors of IRAC also had these artifacts'

https://twitter.com/AndrasGaspar/status … 6634588161

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

NASA: Webb Telescope Is Fully Aligned and Perfectly Sharp

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/334 … ctly-sharp

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,877

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Work mate had looked at the images of 3 different telescopes of the same star set and was astounded with how much clearer the jwst was in comparison.

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now experiencing all seasons – from hot to cold – as it undergoes the thermal stability test. Meanwhile, activities are underway for the final phase of commissioning: digging into the details of the science instruments, the heart of Webb. To complete commissioning, we will measure the detailed performance of the science instruments before we start routine science operations in the summer.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/05/05/ … issioning/

'James Webb just started looking at Hubble Ultra-Deep Field'
https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-exec … ml?id=1207

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-07-12 12:22:49)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - 6.5m mirror, L2 orbit

Need a quick introduction to Webb’s instruments — NIRCam, NIRSpec, MIRI and FGS/NIRISS? Check out the rest of this thread
https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1526957307703316480

The Webb team recently completed the first test to track a moving object! Other objects moving at various speeds will be tested to verify Webb can study objects that move throughout the solar system.
https://twitter.com/ESA_Webb/status/1527357964985651223