Josef Aschbacher and Thomas Zurbuchen celebrate after hearing confirmation that the James Webb Space Telescope successfully separated from the Ariane 5 rocket. Lagrange Points 1-5 of the Sun-Earth system
About 13.6 billion years ago, the first stars and galaxies were born, and light emitted from them has now redshifted. Hope therefore remains high that the JWST will be our modern way of looking back in time, that peering into the infrared spectrum will yield interesting findings about the young universe. Because
planned, the mission of the JWST falls under 4 main pillars. They aim to elucidate how the first stars and galaxies were formed 100-250 million years after the Big Bang, which occurred 13.6 billion years ago. Another long-standing mystery in astronomy is dark matter content. Our universe is made up of five times as much dark
infrared radiation is given out by warm objects, heat must be
matter as ânormalâ (baryonic) matter, but scientists cannot
reflected from the observatory to ensure clear images are
measure this directly as dark matter does not interact with
captured. A sunshield made of five layers of Kapton, a
baryonic matter. Equipped with gravitational lensing
lightweight thermal material, is designed to cater to this need. Spanning the width of a tennis court, it keeps the side facing away from the Sun at -233°C, while the other side is exposed to 85°C. At L2, the large distance from the Sun further ensures scientific instruments aboard are kept sufficiently cool. Furthermore, the JWST also has 18 hexagonal mirrors arranged in a honeycomb pattern that are gold-plated to reflect and focus infrared light onto the ISIM (Integrated Science Instrument module), which subsequently produces images. All of this means the JWST, when compared to the Hubble Space Telescope, is capable of viewing objects that are 10-100 times fainter, 10 times more precisely! With
techniques, astronomers at JWST will indirectly investigate dark matter content through studying faraway galaxies, and also gain insight into the formation and evolution of
300 observing programmes
background shows other stars and galaxies. It is the highest resolution infrared image ever taken from space. Credit: (NASA/STScI)
18th century mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange found 5 solutions to the âthree-body problemâ, which asked if there were any stable configurations where three bodies could orbit each other while staying in the same position relative to each other. These 5 solutions then became the 5 Lagrange points (see diagram), locations where the gravitational forces of two large masses and the centripetal force needed for a small mass to move between them are equal.
galaxies over time. JWST will also investigate the formation of stars and planetary systems whilst studying exoplanets in search of signs of alien life. TRAPPIST-1 is a star of particular interest as 3 of the 7 planets orbiting it are in the habitable zone, and one of them may even contain liquid water!
The long-awaited launch of the JWST was undoubtedly a significant event in space exploration. As we follow the news of JWST making its ambitious way through the cosmos, who knows what kind of new information about our universe will be discovered! Vanessa Yip
This image is JWST's first image of a star which is called 2MASS J17554042+6551277, and uses a red filter to optimize visual contrast. The
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