In this blog, I am giving you a basic understanding of James Webb. What is the James Webb telescope? or what is the James Webb space telescope or JWST and how did the James Webb space telescope change the future of astronomy
James Webb Space Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope
that was launched in August 2012 by the United States, with scientists from
around the world participating in its construction. This new mission will be
capable of detecting the first-ever light from deep inside black holes and
their surroundings, as well as studying dark matter and quark-gluon plasma on
cosmological time scales. The JWST’s main goal is to discover the fundamental
nature of the universe and beyond. It is also expected to help unlock our
understanding of how galaxies formed and evolve over the past 8 billion years,
and whether there is any sign of extraterrestrial life.
JWST is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble, who discovered what he called “galaxies back in 1930,” but Hubble didn’t really understand why. In order for us to truly understand the expansion rate of the Universe, we need to know where it came from. The more we learn about different types of stars and galaxies, the better we can understand the cosmos. We can start trying to see what happened a million or so years ago. If JWST discovers nothing else, it will tell us where galaxies came from. Another important question it could answer is how much water is in the innermost pockets of neutron stars when these very stars form. While this seems like something astronomers have already gotten answers to before, it may be just one more step forward to uncovering new information.
The science team for JWST includes researchers such as
Carl Sagan, Benjamin Cowie, David Reindl, Frank Finneran, Jeff Turner, Andrew
Siemion, Joshua Silverman, Brian Metzger, and Daniel Peress, David Boudin, Andrew
McNewlin, John Vanderburg, Robert Levin, Robert Wibben, Gary Shapiro. As a
collaboration of NASA and Caltech, which lead an effort to create the entire spacecraft,
JWST won’t only find out what’s going down in space but is also looking to use
data produced by other telescopes on Earth to study human health, the climate,
and the evolution of the human body.
A sample of the Sun as viewed by the James Webb Space
Telescope
This project has made many people think about their own place in history and their role as an essential part of humanity. Because of JWST’s presence, we can get a unique view of everything we’ve done before. JWST’s findings are just another milestone in my eyes. Science fiction has always been my favourite topic of discussion. My expectation with each story is high, especially when science is involved. JWST is no exception; you can expect to read about aliens and strange happenings on planets far away. That’s part of why it’s such a great way to become familiar with new things. JWST keeps me busy without even having to leave home. Not only does it save my commute, but it also helps me work through a lot of things I wasn’t used to dealing with. Even though I like reading fantasy books, I never thought they could be taken seriously. When NASA sends something into space, I couldn’t stop imagining the things that would go wrong. Like losing Jim Kirk on Mars. At the same time, I was relieved that this experience wasn’t completely fictional and there were real people in charge, doing real work. No wonder I love JWST. A mission like this is bound to produce results that the general public could enjoy. Who wants to travel the whole galaxy to look at the sky with a tiny scope?
There’s been some controversy regarding JWST. Some,
including Stephen Hawking, have argued that JWST’s observations cannot be
trusted. Others are worried that too much attention will divert us from thinking
about ways to fight climate change and other global problems. So, let’s hope
that JWST makes the right connections and tells us something we can all agree
to. Maybe we can finally put these two forces together. If not, maybe it’ll
take us back to the beginnings of the Human Race. One thing to remember is that
we are still in control of our futures because nobody else is. The future is
ours to build. Hopefully, JWST tells us more about ourselves than we ever
imagined. Let’s try to make sense of these mysterious objects. Our place in the
Universe will soon be revealed.