The James Webb Space Telescope images show us the beauty and power of science
Lawrence M. Krauss is a theoretical physicist, author, president of the Origins Project Foundation, and host ofThe Known Unknowns: The Unsolved Mysteries of the CosmosHold Infinity in the palm of your handAuguries of Innocence.
naive enthusiasm was followed by remarks from the NASA administrator, former senator Bill Nelson, who was so excited he seemed to forget how to describe the image: a cluster of galaxies 4.6 billion light years away, gravitationally distorting and magnifying the images of many more distant galaxies. The particular image chosen by NASA as the first to be unveiled was not artistically striking, as many of the previous Hubble images have been. I expect it was chosen because it displays the most distant objects ever viewed by humans. The light from these objects has travelled more than 13 billion years to reach the telescope, being emitted less than a billion years after the Big Bang.
Finally, NASA released the spectrum of light observed from a giant Jupiter-sized planet, WASP-96, located more than 1,000 light years away and orbiting its star every 3.4 days, with clear evidence of water vapour in its atmosphere. It represents one of the most exciting missions of JWST: to observe light from distant planets and in so doing explore their atmospheres. The atmosphere of Earth has forever been changed by the presence of life. No free oxygen, for example, existed in the early Earth.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
James Webb Space Telescope captures cosmic cliff, dancing galaxies | CBC NewsNASA on Tuesday unveiled four new images from its new powerful space telescope, including a foamy blue and orange shot of a dying star.
Read more »
James Webb space telescope’s next images being releasedThe rest of the initial series of images taken what one of its creators called ‘arguably the most complex machine that humanity has ever built’ have been released.
Read more »
First image from James Webb Space Telescope revealed | CBC NewsOn Monday afternoon, U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled the first image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
Read more »
Here are the James Webb space telescope’s newest imagesAstronomers have released images of stellar nurseries, a gas-giant exoplanet, a quintet of galaxies and an expanding cloud of gas around a dying star as the most powerful telescope yet continues to show off its prowess at probing the depths of the universe
Read more »
James Webb Space Telescope's 1st image shows deepest, sharpest view of universe ever | CBC NewsThe first image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope unveiled at the White House on Monday shows the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance.
Read more »