Monday, December 9, 2024

James Webb Space Telescope: Images of the Big Bang

Date:

Status: 07/12/2022 05:49 am

A look back over 13 billion years: the US space agency NASA has released the long-awaited first color image from the James Webb Space Telescope.

By Claudia Sarre, ARD Studio Washington

One click and there it was. The first photograph from the James Webb Telescope. In it you can see: the black universe with reddish, yellowish and bluish twinkling stars and galaxies. According to NASA, it is the deepest and sharpest infrared image ever taken of the early Universe.

claudia sarre
ARD Washington Study

US Vice President Harris and President Biden were the first to see it. Biden spoke of a historic moment for science, technology, astronomy and space exploration, for the United States and all of humanity.

Kamala Harris called the telescope one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements.

light of the first stars

The telescope was launched on December 25 last year and is now located at the so-called Lagrange point L2, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. From there, among other things, it will provide images of distant galaxies.

Thanks to infrared technology, it can penetrate cosmic dust clouds and capture the light of the first stars 13 billion years ago, something hardly imaginable for the human mind. NASA chief Bill Nelson tried to explain it to the president of the United States.

This is only the first image. The images will go back 13.5 billion years. And since we know that the universe is 13.8 billion years old, we are almost going back to the beginning.

exploration of extraterrestrial life

Images from the time of the Big Bang: that is what scientists hope for above all else. But not only that, says NASA chief Nelson. JWST – as the telescope is called in NASA parlance – is also tasked with investigating whether extraterrestrial life exists somewhere.

It will be seen if the planets are habitable. The telescope can determine the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

US President Biden was impressed. The US government needs to invest even more in research, he explained. The images would remind the world that America can do great things; after all, America is defined by one word: opportunity.

Ebenezer Robbins
Ebenezer Robbins
Introvert. Beer guru. Communicator. Travel fanatic. Web advocate. Certified alcohol geek. Tv buff. Subtly charming internet aficionado.

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