Science First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope

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First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope​

The dawn of a new era in astronomy has begun as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). The telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data are being released during a televised broadcast beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT (14:30 UTC) on Tuesday, July 12, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The images will be published to this page as they are revealed during the broadcast. These listed targets below represent the first wave of full-color scientific images and spectra the observatory has gathered, and the official beginning of Webb’s general science operations. They were selected by an international committee of representatives from NASA, ESA, CSA, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. Learn more about how to watch.

Released one by one, the first images from the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope will demonstrate Webb at its full power, ready to begin its mission to unfold the infrared universe. The first images will be added to this page as they are released.

For more about Webb’s current status, visit the “Where Is Webb?” tracker.


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SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster
News story: NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Image of Universe Yet
Full resolution: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/038/01G7JGTH21B5GN9VCYAHBXKSD1 (NIRCam)


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WASP-96 b hot gas giant exoplanet (0.48 Jupiter masses)
News story: Webb Reveals Steamy Atmosphere of Distant Planet in Exquisite Detail
Full resolution:
(NIRISS spectrum)
(transit light curve)

It's just a spectrum, but they have promised direct images of exoplanets later.


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Southern Ring Nebula
News story: NASA’s Webb Captures Dying Star’s Final ‘Performance’ in Fine Detail
Full resolution:
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/033/01G70BGTSYBHS69T7K3N3ASSEB (NIRCam)
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/033/01G70C5F6Z698YC9E1DEBA3WET (MIRI)

Hubble image from 1998: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NGC_3132.jpg


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Stephan's Quintet compact galaxy group
News story: NASA’s Webb Sheds Light on Galaxy Evolution, Black Holes
Full resolution:
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/034/01G7DA5ADA2WDSK1JJPQ0PTG4A (NIRCam and MIRI)
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/034/01G7DBCJA1M1SSGKDMH7F5XMBE (MIRI)


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Carina Nebula
News story: NASA’s Webb Reveals Cosmic Cliffs, Glittering Landscape of Star Birth
Full resolution:
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/031/01G77PKB8NKR7S8Z6HBXMYATGJ (NIRCam)
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/031/01G780WF1VRADDSD5MDNDRKAGY (NIRCam and MIRI)
 
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Finally an article that doesn't make me want to off myself, always love the great pictures from space telescopes, makes all the stupid shit happening here seem small.
 
Massa's Little Buckie said:
Where are the ayyy lmaos?
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Smug Chuckler said:
Interested in seeing the image of the exoplanet, hopefully it isn't just a dot in front of a star.
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Keep your expectations low for direct images, but it should be better than Hubble since "cold" objects show up better at infrared wavelengths.

WASP-96 b is a "Hot Jupiter" orbiting closer to its star than Mercury, so it's not something that could be directly imaged easily.

Something like this looks like a best case scenario:

Exoplanet HIP 65426b: This newly discovered, directly imaged exoplanet has a mass between six and 12 times that of Jupiter and is orbiting a star that is hotter than and about twice as massive as our Sun. The exoplanet is roughly 92 times farther from its star than Earth is from the Sun. The wide separation of this young planet from its star means that the team’s observations will be much less affected by the bright glare of the host star. Hinkley and his team plan to use Webb’s full suite of coronagraphs to view this target.
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We can only give so many shits about gas giants, but maybe they'll find moons around one of them.
 
I know next to nothing about space, but damn if these aren't cool to look at. I like the one that kind of resembles an old bowling alley or arcade carpet. And there's another being passed around recently that looks like an eye peeking out from the universe.
 
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