Here are the very first images of James Webb in space – Numerama

James Webb saw his first particles of light and now send us the result. NASA has finally released the very first images taken by his James Webb Space Telescopein the afternoon of February 11, 2022. They can be consulted on the space agency blogdevoted to the progress of the JWST.

These very first images captured by the observatory were eagerly awaited. James Webb is a monumental project, the launch of which has been repeatedly postponed. It must be said that NASA had no room for error, because after sending it into space, it is no longer possible to repair the JWST. James Webb finally took off on December 25, 2021. Since then, he has gradually deployed his various structures (heat shield, mirrors).

The first images presented by NASA are not intended for scientific analysis. For the moment, James Webb is not yet operational. While continuing to cool, the JWST is in the process of slowly and carefully aligning its gilded mirrors. This is essential for it to be able to observe the Universe in the infrared correctly. The 18 segments of the hexagonal primary mirror must function as a single structure, so that astronomers have usable images.

To achieve this alignment, James Webb is aiming for a star in particular: HD 84406260 light years from our planet, located in the constellation Ursa Major. It would be too bright to make a science target, but it’s ideal for James Webb tuning.

In addition to presenting an image of this star fixed by James Webb (which the telescope therefore sees in 18 copies, for the moment), NASA has provided another image: a “selfie” of the primary mirror of the JWST. It was not taken from outside the observatory, but with one of Webb’s instruments: NIRCam, a near-infrared camera. It embeds a lens specially designed to take images of the segments of the mirror (in order to achieve alignment, this configuration will not be used during scientific observations).

One of the segments of the mirror shines brighter than the others. This is because it was pointed at the bright star used to achieve James Webb’s alignment. Thanks to this image, NASA was able to obtain information on the progress of the alignment process.

For further

Do you find the images of James Webb blurry? It’s normal

It is absolutely not surprising that the first views of this star provided by James Webb are so blurry. Nothing to do with the marvels obtained by Hubble, but that’s normal. Already, because the James Webb telescope is not yet at the peak of its capabilities. Moreover, even when he is ready to peer into the Universe, James Webb will not necessarily obtain images with a spatial resolution superior to those of Hubble.

Several astronomers wanted to point it out : yes, the Webb images look less visually impressive than the Hubble ones. But the scientific advances that they should allow will be essential. With the JWST, scientists will be able to delve even further into the Universe’s past, study the light of the first galaxies and the birth of stars.