Report by Swasti Sharma
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the most recent launch by NASA.
It is the product of collaboration between NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), ESA (European Space Agency), and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
The first colour images and spectroscopic (study of astronomy using the techniques of absorption and emission of light) data will be shared on Tuesday, 12th July at 0730 hours Pacific Time in a live broadcast.
The reveal can be watched live on NASA TV – NASA Live | NASA.
The targets, which NASA announced were selected by an international committee of scientists from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland, which manages the observatory.
The list of cosmic objects That JWST will be targeting are as follows:
- Carina Nebula: The Carina Nebula is one of the largest and brightest nebulae (Nebulae are stellar nurseries/ places where stars form) in the sky. It is located approximately 7,600 light-years away in the southern constellation named Carina. The Carina Nebula is home to many massive stars (these stars have several times bigger size than the sun).
- WASP-96 b (spectrum): WASP-96 b is a giant planet outside our solar system. It is mainly composed of different gases. This planet is located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth. It has about half the mass of Jupiter. It was discovered in 2014.
- Southern Ring Nebula: The Southern Ring, or “Eight-Burst” nebula, is a planetary nebula (an expanding cloud of gas which surrounds a dying star). It is nearly half a light-year in diameter (1 light year is 9.7 trillion kms) and is located approximately 2,000 light years away from Earth.
- Stephan’s Quintet: Stephan’s Quintet is about 290 million light-years away from earth. It is located in the constellation Pegasus. It is the first compact galaxy group (a small group of galaxies, generally 5 galaxies) ever discovered in 1877.
- SMACS 0723: The James Webb Space Telescope will use the phenomenon known as gravitational lensing (light emitted by distant galaxies passes by massive objects in the universe, the gravitational pull from these objects can distort or bend the light), in which much nearer foreground galaxies magnify and ‘bend’ light to obtain a deep-field view of extremely distant and faint galaxies.
