James Webb Space Telescope News

[Wirko]

Now begins the process of alignment and calibration of the mirror assembly. THAT is going to take a long time.

It probably needs more time to cool beforehand. This report describes how they simulated the cooling process, and the results. They built a physical model of the telescope ("thermal model") just to study that and put it in a cryogenic vacuum chamber.
"As seen from Figure 6, many of the more massive components, such as the primary mirrors, rapidly cooled at the outset but took up to 32 days from the start of cooldown to begin to exhibit asymptotic behavior to their steady cryogenic temperatures and achieve the 27 mK/hr stability required for optical testing."

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

Now begins the process of alignment and calibration of the mirror assembly. THAT is going to take a long time.

Indeed, the team have been saying around 5-6 months of calibrations before "first light"

 

[Wirko]

Indeed, the team have been saying around 5-6 months of calibrations before "first light"

Hopefully they will release some uncalibrated images, with 18 blurry stars in place of one, to the hungry public earlier than that.

I wonder if it was even possible to test single mirror segments on Earth. Probably not, for several reasons - they deformed under gravity, there is no object on Earth that is distant enough to focus on, and there's distortion in the air.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Probably not, for several reasons - they deformed under gravity, there is no object on Earth that is distant enough to focus on, and there's distortion in the air.

From what I read, they did early testing on the moon and then other objects in the Solar system.

 

[Space Lynx]

JWST is in orbit now, its 100% complete in destination and already in orbit.

So what's plan now? Wait 6 months for calibration and first photos?

Where Is Webb? NASA/Webb

During Webb's launch, deployment and commissioning, 'WhereIsWebb' tracked Webb's 'flight' to L2 orbit, its state and progress during its deployment and commissioning process, and finally the release of its first images. This process is now complete. During this process, the page constantly...

www.jwst.nasa.gov

 

[lexluthermiester]

So what's plan now? Wait 6 months for calibration and first photos?

Yup. That's going to be a long process. Though I suspect that it'll take only 4 months.

 

[Chomiq]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1489319970324496386

 

[birdie]

James Webb Space Telescope just sent back its first image - of itself

NASA engineers working to align the 18 hexagonal mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope have released its first pictures. One shows the same star appearing 18 times, while a camera also took a 'selfie' of the mirrors

www.newscientist.com

 

[Space Lynx]

James Webb Space Telescope just sent back its first image - of itself

NASA engineers working to align the 18 hexagonal mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope have released its first pictures. One shows the same star appearing 18 times, while a camera also took a 'selfie' of the mirrors

www.newscientist.com

y'all boys share it in such a boring way.

this is how you share something exciting boys!!!

YEEEEHHAAA DR BECKY KNOWS HOW TO DO IT!

 

[Divide Overflow]

Great news on the successful completion of fine mirror alignment:

NASA’s Webb Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working Successfully - NASA

Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí.

www.nasa.gov

And an update from Dr. Becky:

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Great news on the successful completion of fine mirror alignment:

NASA’s Webb Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working Successfully - NASA

Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí.

www.nasa.gov

And an update from Dr. Becky:

Mind boggling improvement in detail! Can you imagine what we're gonna discover with that?

 

[lexluthermiester]

This was an amazing first shot!

 

[Space Lynx]

This video released by official channel, curated by NASA 20 years of Hubble - posted on March 7th, and it only has like 7k views... this is what is wrong with the world, that should be 7 million, at least. A shame indeed. May you fare better Webb.

 

[the54thvoid]

This video released by official channel, curated by NASA 20 years of Hubble - posted on March 7th, and it only has like 7k views... this is what is wrong with the world, that should be 7 million, at least. A shame indeed. May you fare better Webb.

Science doesn't care for clicks and Hubble's mission has been a resounding success and testimony to the ingenuity of NASA engineers.

Webb will do likewise but don't confuse 'popular' entertainment with the mission of science. The majority of normals have little interest in astronomy or astrophysics. That's what sport, sit-coms, and conspiracy theories are for.

If science pandered to that 'limited attention span' market, then we'd be screwed.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Science doesn't care for clicks and Hubble's mission has been a resounding success and testimony to the ingenuity of NASA engineers.

Webb will do likewise but don't confuse 'popular' entertainment with the mission of science. The majority of normals have little interest in astronomy or astrophysics. That's what sport, sit-coms, and conspiracy theories are for.

If science pandered to that 'limited attention span' market, then we'd be screwed.

Well, there are science communicators out there like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dr Becky, SciShow or Anton Petrov who forward news like that in more digestible manner. But people still prefer what they prefer...

 

[lexluthermiester]

Well, there are science communicators out there like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dr Becky, SciShow or Anton Petrov who forward news like that in more digestible manner. But people still prefer what they prefer...

I'm partial to Paul M Sutter, John Micheal Godier, Veritasium and PhysicsGirl.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I haven't been to their home page in a while to many other stuff to do on earth

Hubble Home

Embark on a journey of discovery with the Hubble Space Telescope.

hubblesite.org

Usually if I do just jump to this
Hubble Heritage Gallery of Images

Or here
Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive

hdqwalls.com Best Source For HD,4k,5k,8k Wallpapers

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

I'm partial to Paul M Sutter, John Micheal Godier, Veritasium and PhysicsGirl.

Oh yeah, subscribed to JMG and watch other two every so often as well. Will check out Mr Sutter. Thanks.

 

[Shrek]

Science doesn't care for clicks and Hubble's mission has been a resounding success and testimony to the ingenuity of NASA engineers.

Webb will do likewise but don't confuse 'popular' entertainment with the mission of science. The majority of normals have little interest in astronomy or astrophysics. That's what sport, sit-coms, and conspiracy theories are for.

If science pandered to that 'limited attention span' market, then we'd be screwed.

Don't Look Up (2021) - IMDb

 

[Space Lynx]

I really wish my Grandpa were still around for all the Webb news, it brought tears to my eyes tonight. I used to walk down to his house all the time ever since I was really young as he didn't live far from me... readjusting life is more complicated than I thought it would be, its like gaping holes are present at every turn because Covid took so many loved ones from me in a short amount of time...

 

[lexluthermiester]

Paul has just shared a run down of Webb that really helps clarify a lot about how the JWT works.

 

[Chomiq]

It's fully aligned now:

 

[lexluthermiester]

Seems they're a little bit ahead of schedule. Very cool!

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

This whole mission is going incredibly well so far.

 

[qubit]

The JWT is epic. I'm so glad it's a resounding success.

This achievement is all the greater, because space-living devices like this can't be designed, developed and tested like normal things such as a car, no matter how complex. This is the equivalent of the first prototype going out into the field, live. Just how does one develop that and ensure it works first time? Astounding! What a superb achievement by everyone involved.

And now the whole world gets to benefit from the increased scientific understanding about the universe that this will bring. Can't wait.