James Webb Space Telescope
Introduction
Telescopes have been a significant instrument throughout the history of space study. They show us the vast expanse of the universe that our eyes cannot see. But telescopes are not just great, giant cylinders with lenses and all that complex stuff. Actually, the most powerful telescopes are space telescopes and as the name suggests, they are literally launched into space and then operated. For instance, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, and since then it has provided us with images of constellations, nebulas, etc. But today I will tell you about the strongest telescope that has ever existed, The James Webb Space Telescope…
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| The James Webb Telescope |
The beginning
On 25 December 2021, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope. As the giant rocket made its way through the atmosphere, escaping the force of gravity, a surge of hope was felt by the scientists there. They had been planning this mission for the last 10 years. Not only that, the organization had invested $10 billion in this project. A big percentage of money from this amount had been diverted to this project from other missions. And the great thing is that this one project has a higher risk probability than any other. It was originally named Next Generation Space Telescope but in September 2002, It was renamed James Webb Space Telescope after NASA’s second administrator, James Webb. but how will it work and why do people say that Webb will time travel.
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| Image Source - Google | Image by - Wikipedia | The JWST team in front of the full telescope |
The goal of Webb
The Webb Telescope was designed to show us the history of our universe. To show us how the universe was born, and how the galaxies were formed. It will. Overall it had 4 major tasks to perform:
First light and reionization
Assembly of galaxies
Birth of stars and protoplanetary systems
Planets and origins of life
Let’s take each step by step…
First light and reionization- The Webb Space Telescope will look back 3 billion years ago when the universe was filled with particles which couldn’t unite due to the heat. When the universe cooled down enough, the particles allowed the light to pass through. Another thing included in this topic is that the event when the galaxies started to form is known as the ‘epoch of reionization.
Assembly of galaxies- Studying the galaxies through Webb is also an important way to study the early life of the universe as their formation was one of the earliest events that happened. Studying the light they emit may also help.
Birth of stars and protoplanetary systems- Studying the stars is an excellent way to study the universe. The Eagle Nebula is considered the pillar of the creation of many stars. Protoplanetary systems are stars around which huge clouds of gas rotate and are believed to give birth to planets.
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| Image Source - Google | Image by - Wikipedia | The HL Tauri protoplanetary system |
Planets and origin of life- The later part of time includes the birth of planets and the origin of life. Maybe while looking at the evolution of the universe we spot life evolving on some exoplanet!
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