The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), the premier observatory of the next decade, has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of astronomy. According to NASA’s Science website (science. nasa. gov), the telescope has captured the first-ever direct image of a phenomenon that astronomers have long hoped to observe.
The discovery was made by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on board the Webb, which has the capability to peer back in time over 13. 5 billion years to see the first galaxies born after the Big Bang. The image captured by Webb is of the Serpens Nebula, a young and nearby star-forming region. Astronomers have found an intriguing group of protostellar outflows in this region, which are formed when jets of gas spewing from newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds.
Typically, these objects have varied orientations within one region. However, in this case… they are slanted in the same direction, to the same degree, reminiscent of sleet pouring down during a storm. Webb, which orbits the Sun at a distance of 1. 5 million kilometers from Earth, has a unique design that allows it to study every phase in the history of the universe.
Its 5-layer sunshield protects the telescope from infrared radiation from the Sun, Earth, and Moon, “providing Sun protection equivalent to SPF 1 million.” Its ability to observe objects in the infrared spectrum allows it to see through dust and gas… revealing objects that would otherwise be hidden from view.
The Webb Space Telescope is set to continue making groundbreaking discoveries, “furthering our understanding of the universe and its many mysteries.”
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Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the history of our Universe.
So big it has to fold origami-style to fit in the rocket and will unfold like a “Transformer” in space.
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