JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE – SCI & TECH
News: Webb
space telescope shows off ‘amazing’ power by spotting compact galaxy
What's in the news?
● The
detection of a highly compact galaxy
that formed relatively soon after the Big Bang and displayed an impressive rate
of star formation is the latest example of how the James Webb Space Telescope
is reshaping our understanding of the early universe.
Key takeaways:
● Scientists
said the galaxy, dating to 13.3 billion years ago, has a diameter of
approximately 100 light-years - about 1,000 times smaller than the Milky Way -
but forms new stars at a rate very similar to that of our much-larger
present-day galaxy.
● A light-year is the
distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).
● It
existed about 510 million years after the Big Bang event marking the universe's
origin. The universe at the time was less than 4% of its current age.
James Webb Telescope:
● It
is the world’s biggest and most powerful
space telescope rocketed away from French Guiana in South America.
● Webb
was formerly known as the “Next
Generation Space Telescope” (NGST) and it was renamed in 2002 after a
former NASA administrator, James Webb.
Space Agencies:
● It
is a joint venture between the US
(NASA), European (ESA) and Canadian space agencies (CSA).
Features:
● It
is an orbiting infrared observatory
that will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope,
with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity.
● It
will be a large infrared telescope with an approximately 6.5meter primary
mirror.
Objectives and functions of the telescope:
● It
will look deeper into the cosmos and
thus further back in time than is possible with Hubble.
● It
will do this with a much bigger mirror
(6.5m in diameter versus 2.4m) and instruments that are tuned to the infrared.
● Scientists
hope this set-up can detect the light from the very first population of stars in the Universe to switch on more
than 13.5 billion years ago.