National Aeronautics Space Agency(USA)/European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne](EU)/ Canadian Space Agency [Agence Spatiale Canadienne](CA) Webb Infrared Space Telescope(US) James Webb Space Telescope annotated. Launched on December 25, 2021 [ten years late].
From The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (US)(EU)(CA)
January 19, 2022
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Claire Blome
The Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Baltimore, Maryland
Christine Pulliam
cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
Multi-Wavelength View of NGC 3351 Compass
Credits: SCIENCE: The National Aeronautics and Space Agency(US), The European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne][Europäische Weltraumorganisation](EU), The European Southern Observatory [Observatoire européen austral][Europäische Südsternwarte](EU)(CL), Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array(CL), The National Astronomy Observatory of Japan(JP), The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (US).
Multi-Wavelength View of NGC 1300 Compass
Credits: SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, ESO-Chile, ALMA, NAOJ, NRAO
Summary
An international research team will survey the stars, star clusters, and dust that lie within 19 nearby galaxies.
To understand galaxies, you have to understand how stars form. Over 100 researchers from around the world have collaborated to bring together observations of nearby spiral galaxies taken with the world’s most powerful radio, visible, and ultraviolet telescopes – and will soon add a full suite of high-resolution infrared images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. With this groundbreaking data set, astronomers will be able to study stars as they start to form within dark, dusty gas clouds, untangle when those infant stars blow away that gas and dust, and identify more mature stars that are puffing off layers of gas and dust – all for the first time in a diverse set of spiral galaxies.
____________________________________________________________________________
Spirals are some of the most captivating shapes in the universe. They appear in intricate seashells, carefully constructed spider webs, and even in the curls of ocean waves. Spirals on cosmic scales – as seen in galaxies – are even more arresting, not only for their beauty, but also for the overwhelming amount of information they contain. How do stars and star clusters form? Until recently, a complete answer used to lie out of reach, blocked by gas and dust. Within the first year of operations, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope [above] will help researchers complete a more detailed sketch of the stellar life cycle with high-resolution infrared-light images of 19 galaxies.
The telescope will also provide a few key “puzzle pieces” that were missing until now. “JWST touches on so many different phases of the stellar life cycle – all in tremendous resolution,” said Janice Lee, NOIRLab Gemini Observatory chief scientist at The National Science Foundation’s (US) NOIRLab (US) in Tucson, Arizona. “Webb will reveal star formation at its very earliest stages, right when gas collapses to form stars and heats up the surrounding dust.”
Lee is joined by David Thilker of The Johns Hopkins University (US) in Baltimore, Maryland, Kathryn Kreckel of The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg](DE), and 40 additional members of the multi-wavelength survey program known as PHANGS (Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS). Their mission? Not only to unravel the mysteries of star formation with Webb’s high-resolution infrared images, but also to share the datasets with the entire astronomical community to accelerate discovery.
The Rhythms of Star Formation
PHANGS is novel, in part, because it brought together more than 100 international experts to study star formation from beginning to end. They are targeting galaxies that can be seen face-on from Earth and that are, on average, 50 million light-years away. The large collaboration began with microwave light images of 90 galaxies from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile.
European Southern Observatory/National Radio Astronomy Observatory(US)/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan(JP) ALMA Observatory (CL).
Astronomers use this data to produce molecular gas maps to study the raw materials for star formation. Once the Very Large Telescope’s Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument, also in Chile, came online, they obtained data known as spectra to study later phases of star formation of 19 galaxies, particularly after star clusters have cleared nearby gas and dust.
European Southern Observatory(EU) MUSE on Yepun (UT4) on the Very Large Telescope, Cerro Paranal (CL)
European Southern Observatory(EU) , Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert •ANTU (UT1; The Sun ) •KUEYEN (UT2; The Moon ) •MELIPAL (UT3; The Southern Cross ), and •YEPUN (UT4; Venus – as evening star). Elevation 2,635 m (8,645 ft) from above Credit J.L. Dauvergne & G. Hüdepohl atacama photo.
The space-based Hubble Space Telescope has provided visible and ultraviolet light observations of 38 galaxies to add high-resolution images of individual stars and star clusters.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration(US)/European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne] [Europäische Weltraumorganisation](EU) Hubble Space Telescope.
The missing elements, which Webb will fill in, are largely in areas of the galaxies that are obscured by dust – regions where stars are actively beginning to form. “We’re going to clearly see star clusters in the hearts of these dense molecular clouds that before we only had indirect evidence of,” Thilker said. “Webb gives us a way to look inside these ‘star factories’ to see the freshly assembled star clusters and measure their properties before they evolve.”
The new data will also help the team pinpoint the ages of stellar populations in a diverse sample of galaxies, which will help researchers build more accurate statistical models. “We’re always putting the context of the small scales into the big picture of galaxies,” explained Kreckel. “With Webb, we’ll trace the evolutionary sequence of each galaxy’s stars and star clusters.”
Another important answer they’re seeking involves the dust surrounding the stars, within the interstellar medium. Webb will help them determine which areas of the gas and dust are associated with specific star-forming regions, and which are free-floating interstellar material. “This couldn’t be done before, beyond the nearest galaxies. It will be transformative,” Thilker added.
The team is also working to understand the timing of the star-formation cycle. “Timescales are critical in astronomy and physics,” Lee said. “How long does each stage of star formation last? How might those timelines vary in different galaxy environments? We want to measure when these stars free themselves from their gas clouds to understand how star formation is disrupted.”
Science for All
These Webb observations will be taken as part of a Treasury program, which means they are not only available immediately to the public, but they will also be of broad and enduring scientific value. The team will work to create and release data sets that align Webb’s data to each of the complementary data sets from ALMA, MUSE, and Hubble, allowing future researchers to sift through each galaxy and their stellar populations easily, toggling on and off various wavelengths – and zoom into individual pixels of the images. They will provide inventories of different phases of the star-formation cycle, including regions of star formation, young stars, star clusters, and local dust properties.
This research will be conducted as part of Webb’s General Observer (GO) programs, which are competitively selected using a dual-anonymous review system, the same system that is used to allocate time on the Hubble Space Telescope.
See the full article here .
five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings
Please help promote STEM in your local schools.
The The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. Launch is planned for October 2021.
Webb telescope will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.
Webb telescope was formerly known as the “Next Generation Space Telescope” (NGST); it was renamed in Sept. 2002 after a former NASA administrator, James Webb.
Webb is an international collaboration between National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (US) is managing the development effort. The main industrial partner is Northrop Grumman; the Space Telescope Science Institute (US) will operate Webb after launch.
Several innovative technologies have been developed for Webb. These include a folding, segmented primary mirror, adjusted to shape after launch; ultra-lightweight beryllium optics; detectors able to record extremely weak signals, microshutters that enable programmable object selection for the spectrograph; and a cryocooler for cooling the mid-IR detectors to 7K.
There will be four science instruments on Webb: The Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), The Near InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRspec), The Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), and The Fine Guidance Sensor/ Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS-NIRISS). Webb’s instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range. It will be sensitive to light from 0.6 to 28 micrometers in wavelength.
National Aeronautics Space Agency (US) Webb NIRCam.
European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne](EU)Webb NIRspec.
European Space Agency [Agence spatiale européenne](EU) Webb MIRI schematic.
Webb Fine Guidance Sensor-Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph FGS/NIRISS.
Webb has four main science themes: The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization, The Assembly of Galaxies, The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems, and Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life.
Launch is scheduled for later in the decade on an Ariane 5 rocket. The launch will be from Arianespace’s ELA-3 launch complex at European Spaceport located near Kourou, French Guiana. Webb will be located at the second Lagrange point, about a million miles from the Earth.
sciencesprings 