There is good news and bad news about the James Webb Space Telescope.
The bad news is that one of the scope instruments called the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI, has a slight anomaly. But before you get too worried, the good news is that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is still happy, healthy and wholeheartedly capable of continuing to decode the invisible universe for us.
Basically, back in April, the JWST team announced that one of MIRI’s four viewing modes showed a reduction in the amount of light registered by the instrument. However, after conducting an investigation into the matter, NASA says these changes do not pose a risk to MIRI’s science capabilities. “There is no risk to the instrument,” NASA said in a blog post on Thursday (August 24).
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However, the anomaly may impact the amount of exposure time required when the instrument switches to a particular affected mode.
The existing mode, called Intermediate Resolution Spectroscopy (NYM), is calibrated to obtain infrared data originating from distant regions of the cosmos associated with wavelengths between 5 and 28.5 microns. That range, according to NASA, is where emission from molecules and dust is usually found, making the MRS perfect for finding objects such as planet-forming disks. However, as NASA explains in its blog post, the reduced signal is specific to MIRI imaging at longer wavelengths.
One of MIRI’s other modes, called Low-Resolution Spectrography which specializes in the wavelengths between 5 and 12 microns normally connected to the surface of objects (such as planets), was operating normally, the team said. A fourth MIRI mode, called Coronagraphic Imaging, is currently being investigated. The mode is programmed to directly detect exoplanets and dust disks around their host stars through a mechanism known as coronagraphy, which relies on blocking light from a single source to gather data about surrounding sources.
The JWST team also confirmed that the observatory is in general “healthy” condition and that “every other Webb scientific instrument remains unaffected.” These instruments include the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), Near Infrared Imager and Gapless Spectrograph (NIRISS) and Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS).
2023-08-26 18:31:22
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