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James Webb telescope captures a knot of galaxies in the early universe

Posted on October 22, 2022October 22, 2022 by Admin

The James Webb Space Telescope has produced its second revelatory image in as many days. Scientists using the observatory have discovered a tightly-packed “knot” of at least three galaxies that were forming around a quasar 11.5 billion years ago, just over 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The telescope’s near-infrared spectrograph not only showed that the galaxies were orbiting each other at high speeds (up to 435 miles per second), but that this was one of the densest known areas of early galaxy formation. The density is unusually high enough that lead researcher Dominika Wylezalek suggested there may even be two “halos” of dark matter merging in this area.

The quasar itself is unusual. The not-so-elegantly named SDSS J165202.64+172852.3 is a very red example that doesn’t emit as wide a variety of light as already-rare ‘normal’ quasars. These objects serve as active galactic nuclei and are powered by the gas tumbling into a supermassive black hole at the core of their galaxies.

James Webb Telescope

The imagery also underscores the strength of the Webb telescope’s sensors. Earlier studies using the Hubble and Gemini-North telescopes spotted the quasar’s outflows but didn’t reveal more than one host galaxy.

More study is necessary to determine how galaxy clusters like this take form and are affected by supermassive black holes. However, the Webb findings already promise to improve humanity’s understanding of how the present-day web of galaxies came to be, not to mention how quasars might stifle star formation through their flows.

This is also just the start of Webb-based quasar discoveries. The team noted that Hubble data suggests there may be still more galaxies twirling around the quasar. This is also the first part of a trilogy of studies using Webb to analyze quasars at multiple points in the universe’s history. These efforts could shed considerably more light on cosmic evolution in the years ahead.

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James Webb Space Telescope’s first pictures of Mars could reveal more about the atmosphere

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Admin

The James Webb Space Telescope is still snapping its first pictures of Solar System planets, and the latest batch could be particularly useful. NASA and the ESA have shared early images of Mars, taken on September 5th, that promise new insights into the planet’s atmosphere. Data from the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) is already offering a few surprises. For starters, the giant Hellas Basin is oddly darker than nearby areas at the hottest time of the day, NASA’s Giuliano Liuzzi and Space.com noted — higher air pressure at the basin’s lower altitude has suppressed thermal emissions.

The JWST imagery also gave space agencies an opportunity to share Mars’ near-infrared atmospheric composition using the telescope’s onboard spectrograph array. The spectroscopic ‘map’ (pictured at middle) shows the planet absorbing carbon dioxide at several different wavelengths, and also shows the presences of carbon monoxide and water. A future research paper will provide more detail about the Martian air’s chemistry.

How did the James Webb Space Telescope record the images perfectly?

Mars atmosphere composition from James Webb Space TelescopeNASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Mars JWST/GTO team. It was particularly tricky to record the images. Mars is one of the brightest objects the James Webb telescope can see — a problem for an observatory designed to study the most distant objects in the universe. Researchers countered this by capturing very short exposures and using special techniques to analyze the findings.

This is only the initial wave of pictures and data. It will take more observations to reveal more about Mars. However, the spectral info already hints at more information about the planet’s materials. Liuzzi also thinks JWST studies could settle disputes over the presence of methane on Mars, potentially signaling that the Red Planet harbored life in its distant past.

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NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover collects ‘amazing’ rock samples

Posted on September 19, 2022September 19, 2022 by Admin

The US space agency’s Perseverance rover is close to completing its first set of objectives on Mars. The Nasa robot has collected a diverse set of rock samples that it will soon deposit on the surface, awaiting carriage to Earth by later missions.

Arrival at Jezero Crater

It’s been 17 months since the vehicle arrived in an area called Jezero Crater, slung below a rocket crane. Everything “Percy” has seen since confirms to scientists the rover is in the perfect place to hunt for life. It’s not looking for any organisms that are alive today; the harsh environment on Mars makes their presence highly improbable. Rather, the robot is searching for the traces of a biology that could have existed billions of years ago when Jezero was filled with a lake.

This ancient history, scientists hope, is now recorded in the “amazing” rock samples that will be laid down in “a depot” in the next couple of months.

Perseverance’s Mission

Perseverance’s mission is to drill rocks and store samples for later return to Earth laboratories

Nasa and the European Space Agency are working up a plan to retrieve the rock cache. It’s an audacious plan that will involve another landing system, some helicopters, a Martian rocket and an interplanetary freighter. The goal is to have the samples back on Earth in 2033.

The delivery will include some examples of igneous, or volcanic, rocks that Perseverance drilled out on the crater floor. These will tell the story, mostly, of Jezero before it was filled with lake water. Critically, the samples are of a rock type that can be definitively dated. At present, ages on Mars can only be inferred indirectly.

The other part of the cache will include sedimentary type rocks that Perseverance has been collecting in recent months from the delta deposits in the western sector of the 45km-wide crater. A delta is a structure built up from the silt and sand dumped by a river as it slows on entry into a wider body of water. It’s the kind of geological feature that might just have trapped traces of past microbial life.

Looking at the sedimentary core samples drilled by Perseverance. Wildcat Ridge is on the left

One of the sedimentary samples, from a rock nicknamed “Wildcat Ridge”, was formed when muds settled in the Jezero lake as it was evaporating. It’s full of salts. But the rover’s instrumentation shows that Wildcat Ridge also contains abundant organic, or carbon-rich, compounds. This is a tantalising observation but comes with important caveats.

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James Webb telescope is now taking detailed photos of our own solar system’s planets and moons

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Admin

The James Webb telescope of NASA has taken stunning photos of nebulae, groups of galaxies and even the “deepest” view of the universe. It has also taken photos of Jupiter to see if it can be used to observe nearby celestial objects like moons and asteroids, as well other elements like planet rings and satellites.

NASA said, “Fans of Jupiter will recognize some familiar features of our solar system’s enormous planet in these images seen through Webb’s infrared gaze. A view from the NIRCam instrument’s short-wavelength filter shows distinct bands that encircle the planet as well as the Great Red Spot, a storm big enough to swallow the Earth. The iconic spot appears white in this image because of the way Webb’s infrared image was processed.”

Bryan Holler, a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, who helped plan these observations said, “Combined with the deep field images released the other day, these images of Jupiter demonstrate the full grasp of what Webb can observe, from the faintest, most distant observable galaxies to planets in our own cosmic backyard that you can see with the naked eye from your actual backyard,”.

According to Engadget, “It’s worth noting that James Webb captured these images moving across its field of view in three separate observations, proving that it’s capable of finding and tracking stars in the vicinity of a celestial body as bright as Jupiter. That means it can be used to study moons in our solar system and could give us the first images of the plumes of material known to spew out of natural satellites like Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.” They also said, “The team also tracked asteroids in the asteroid belt to figure out the fastest objects it can observe. They found that it can still get gather data from objects moving up to 67 milliarcseconds per second across its field of view. NASA says that’s equivalent to tracking a turtle moving from a mile away. As Stefanie Milam, James Webb’s deputy project scientist, said, these images show that “everything worked brilliantly.” We can expect not just more impressively detailed images of space in the future, but also information that could shed more light on how the first galaxies had formed.”

James Webb Space Telescope Captures First Full-color Images of Space

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Admin

It’s only a few days until NASA and its partners on the James Webb Space Telescope project reveal the first full-color images and spectroscopic data captured by the observatory. The agency has shed a little more light on what to expect by revealing the James Webb Space Telescope’s initial list of cosmic targets.

Captured by James Webb Space Telescope

One of them is the Carina Nebula, which is around 7,600 light-years away. NASA says it’s one of the biggest and brightest nebulae in the sky and it includes stars that are several times larger than the Sun. Another nebula the telescope captured images from is the Southern Ring. That’s roughly 2,000 light-years from Earth and is a planetary nebula — it’s an expanding cloud of gas that surrounds a dying star.

Closer to home is the gas planet WASP-96 b, which is almost 1,150 light-years away and has around half the mass of Jupiter. NASA will provide a look at the planet’s light spectrum data. Much further from here is Stephan’s Quintet, which is around 290 million light-years away in the Pegasus constellation. This is the first compact galaxy group that was discovered, all the way back in 1877. It comprises five galaxies, four of which “are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters,” NASA said.

Also on Tuesday, NASA, the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency will reveal imagery for SMACS 0723. “Massive foreground galaxy clusters magnify and distort the light of objects behind them, permitting a deep field view into both the extremely distant and intrinsically faint galaxy populations,” NASA explained.

Important Step for JWST

A committee of experts from NASA, ESA, CSA and the Space Telescope Science Institute spent five years determining the first targets for Webb’s instruments. The full-color images and spectroscopic data that James Webb Space Telescope captured will be revealed on July 12th at 10:30 AM ET. You’ll be able to view them on NASA’s website.

This marks an important step for James Webb Space Telescope as it marks the official beginning of the observatory’s general science operations. The aim is to provide us with more detailed images and information about the earliest stars and galaxies as well as potentially habitable exoplanets. After launch in December, it took several months for the James Webb Space Telescope to reach its destination and prepare for full operation. We’re very close to finding out just what the observatory is capable of.

How is NASA trying to create more opportunities and reduce socio-economic barriers?

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Admin

In a piece of recent news, NASA is taking steps to create more opportunities and reduce socio-economic barriers related to space, including for those from underserved and underrepresented communities, amid a broader push for improved racial equity in the federal government. The agency says its Equity Action Plan will allow it to internally and externally track progress on improving diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

NASA’s Plan to Eradicating Socio-economic Barriers

The plan has four focus areas:

Increasing integration and utilization of contractors and businesses from underserved communities and expanding equity in NASA’s procurement process
Enhancing grants and cooperative agreements to advance opportunities, access and representation for underserved communities
Leveraging Earth science and socioeconomic data to help mitigate environmental challenges in underserved communities
Advancing external civil rights compliance and expanding access to limited English proficient populations within underserved communities

Among the measures NASA plans to take to address these issues in underserved communities are running more engagement events, increasing outreach and training and offering small businesses more contract opportunities. The agency is also aiming to address language barriers by updating its language access plan and expanding accessibility for populations with limited English proficiency, starting with communications in Spanish.

Plans to return crewed Moon Landings

NASA plans to return to crewed Moon landings in 2025. Through the Artemis program, it plans to land a woman and person of color on the Moon for the first time. It has named a diverse shortlist of astronauts who are eligible for the initial flights.

“At NASA, all of our missions depend on our steadfast commitment to equal opportunity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The Equity Action plan deepens our commitment to further identify and remove the barriers that limit opportunity in underserved and underrepresented communities. This framework anchors fairness as a core component in every NASA mission to make the work we do in space and beyond more accessible to all.”

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Tag: NASA