Science and Technology
In News: NASA has revealed some stunning images of the universe taken from its James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA Webb space telescope images:
- The first image from the Webb has been shared from NASA’s Goddard Space Centre and is the same deep field image of SMACS 0723.
- Some of the cosmic objects in the image are pictured as they were 13.1 billion years ago.
- The second image is a spectrum of the gas giant planet WASP-96b, located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth.
- This is the first spectrum of an exoplanet taken by Webb.
- It reveals wavelengths that haven’t been revealed before. The spectrum reveals tell-tale signatures of water vapour on the planet.
- The third image is a near-infrared image of the Southern Ring Nebula or the “Eight-burst Nebula,” a planetary Nebula surrounding a dying star.
- The fourth image is an enormous mosaic of Stephan’s Quintet and the largest image taken by Webb to date.
- The image shows the dramatic impact of huge shockwaves as one of the galaxies smashes through the cluster.
- It also shows a black hole in the Quintet at a detail never seen before.
- The last and final image released by NASA shows a star-forming region in the Carina Nebula called NGC 3324, and its “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars.
- Captured in infrared for the first time by Webb, the new image shows previously invisible areas of star birth.
What is NASA’s James Webb Telescope?
- The telescope has been in the works for years.
- NASA led its development with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
- It was launched aboard a rocket on December 25, 2021, and is currently at a point in space known as the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, approximately 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
- It is a giant leap forward in our quest to understand the Universe and our origins, as it will examine every phase of cosmic history: from the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our own Solar System.
Source: Indian Express