We now have a date for our first real images from NASA's next-generation
observatory.
Following half a year of commissioning in space, NASA will release the first
operational images taken by the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope on
July 12, according to an agency statement posted Wednesday (June 1). While
Webb officials are still keeping those first imaging targets secret, the
agency emphasized that it took five years of work among the several
participating space agencies to decide what those first images will show.
"Our goals for Webb's first images and data are both to showcase the
telescope's powerful instruments and to preview the science mission to
come," astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist at the Space
Telescope Science Institute, said in the statement. "They are sure to
deliver a long-awaited 'wow' for astronomers and the public."
Although the Webb team has shared several images already, these were all
interim alignment images taken to evaluate the observatory's capabilities.
The July 12 images will come after each instrument is "calibrated, tested,
and given the green light by its science and engineering team," according to
NASA.
NASA emphasized that despite all the months of careful alignment since the
Dec. 25, 2021, launch of Webb, it is difficult to predict exactly how the
new images will look. The high-resolution infrared view of the universe will
be unique, as Webb operates in deep space and has an 18-segment hexagonal
mirror that collects sharp images expected to show the first galaxies, early
in the history of the universe.
The new images will be available in full color and will be meant to show the
breadth of Webb's science capabilities, NASA said. This means the images
will not only be included, but also spectroscopic data to show elemental
composition and other information that astronomers can infer from the
spectrum of 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," NASA said. "All of Webb's commissioning data — the data
taken while aligning the telescope and preparing the instruments — will also
be made publicly available."
While we wait for the big reveal, we do know what Webb will focus on in its
first year of operations, called Cycle 1. The agency has already published
the list of planned investigations following a competition within the
science community to determine the highest-priority work, a process that
will repeat each year of the observatory's lifetime.
“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,"
Eric Smith, Webb program scientist at NASA, said in the statement. "These
images will be the culmination of decades of dedication, talent, and dreams
— but they will also be just the beginning."
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