The calibration of the James Webb Telescope is progressing gradually. The space observatory made its first observations during February 2022, attracting great interest from amateur and professional astronomers. On this occasion, Futura is organizing a live show on March 17 with experts to talk about the most powerful space telescope ever built.
The telescope James-Webb will be up and running soon, while calibration From the new space observatory. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) arrived at the Lagrange point L2, located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, on January 24, 2022, having benefited from Excellent launch thanks to Ariane 5 . missileon December 25, 2021. During its nearly month-long flight into space, engineers from NASA andEuropean Space Agency Deploy the device gradually, starting with the opening solar sail To end with the placement of primary and secondary mirrors.
Flight start for mission
Currently, JWST is still in the formation stage. Thus, for the whole of February, the US space agency published images that managed to measure the progress of the space telescope. Three photos have since been revealed February 11, 2022where 18 bright spots can be observed, revealing the same starHD 84406, located in Ursa major constellation. The HD 84406 was a reference to certify the proper functioning of the eighteen hexagonal mirrors that make up James Webb’s main mirror, 6.5 meters in diameter. Using the images captured by the telescope, the researchers then carried out ” stacking », or a group of shots for a single image, with a clean view.
Before it is fully functional and provides great images like a telescope HubbleJWST will still need to be calibrated and will undergo various tests for several weeks. NASA has estimated that James Webb will be operating at full capacity during the summer of 2022.
James Webb attacks the universe
The new space observatory aims to be revolutionary, built in the form of The worthy successor to the Hubble telescope, in operation since 1990. However, there are some notable differences that distinguished JWST from its predecessor. Where Hubble observed the emission of thousands of celestial bodies in Domain Visible, James-Webb will be dedicated exclusively to radiation Infrared and near infrared. The optics should theoretically prove more powerful than those of Hubble, whose 2.4-meter primary mirror looks tiny compared to JWST’s 6.5-meter.
With these devices, the James Webb Space Telescope You will be able to photograph more distant objects inbeingWe may observe the oldest galactic systems to understand the composition of the universe. Few astronomical phenomena will be hidden from eyes from JWST. Thus he will be able to observe nebulae, supernovae even outer planetsgiving scientists the opportunity to learn more about the formation some distant planets.
To talk about this promising and revolutionary instrument the James Webb Telescope, Futura is organizing a live session with renowned experts on March 17, 2022. Thus, Astrobier Speaker will welcome Eric Lagadec, astrophysicist At the Observatory of the Cote d’Azur and Lucy Lepoulux, researcher at the Institute of Planetary Science andAstrophysics Grenoble (Ibag).
Mark your calendars!
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