The James Webb Space Telescope is nearing the end of its first months of queuing its primary mirrors. As a result of this series of experimental tests, James Webb made his first recordings.
–
Precise adjustment of all mirror units remains
The James Webb Cosmic Observatory is nearing completion of the first phase of several months of aligning its primary mirrors, using the Near Infrared Camera.
The task of the space telescope commissioning team was twofold: to confirm that the Near Infrared Camera (NIR) was ready to collect light from astronomical objects, and that it was able to do so in all 18 primary mirror segments. The image mosaic of the 18 points of light is the result of Webb’s non-straightforward mirror segments, all of which reflect the light of the same star back at the Webb’s secondary mirror and in the NIR camera’s detectors.
What looks like a simple image of a blurred star right now, and what now becomes the basis for aligning and focusing the telescope’s mirror segments in order to
to take extraordinary and unprecedented images of the universe from the universe as early as this summer.
It is planned that over the next month, the team will adjust the mirror segments until the 18 images come together into a single star.
“The entire Webb team is in a state of euphoria, which is why the first steps in imaging and aligning the telescopic mirror are progressing extremely well. We were very happy to see the light find its way into the NIR camera, ”said Marcia Rieke, a professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona and leader of the NIR setup team.
The first start was great
During the image capture process that began on Feb. 2, the James Webb space telescope was positioned in 156 different positions around the predicted location of the observed star.
The whole process took almost 25 hours. Then the images were stitched together to create a single large mosaic that includes the sign of each primary mirror. The images presented here are only part of a large mosaic of more than 2 billion pixels.
“This first initial search covered an area the size of about a full moon because the segment points were potentially spread across the sky. And right at the beginning we found the image of the set star in all 18 mirror segments, very close to the center! It proved to be a great start in terms of mirror alignment, ”said Marshall Perrin, an astronomer at the Webb Space Telescope Science Institute.
The unique dots on the image mosaic are images of the same star formed by each of the 18 primary mirror segments of the Webb space telescope about the object.
This is an important “treasure” that will be used by optical experts and engineers
to align all mirror segments of the telescope.
The NIR camera is a key imager for the space observatory. It was deliberately selected for the initial queuing steps of the Webb mirror due to its wide field of view and special heat tolerance. The NIR camera will be used to fully align the telescope mirrors.
The space telescope paid for itself
“The launch of Webb was an exciting event, of course, but for scientists and optical engineers, this is the peak moment when light from a star has successfully found its way down the system into the detector,” said Michael McElwain, a James Webb project scientist. , from NASA ‘s Goddard Space Center.
Going through the extremely complex and complicated process of adjusting the mirror,
Webb’s images will be clearer and more detailed,
just as the other three instruments in the space telescope reach the temperature value of the planned cryogenic operation and begin to record the data. The first full-length images are expected to arrive in the summer. Although this is a big moment, there is still a lot to be done in the coming months to prepare all four tools of the space laboratory for scientific operation.
(Source: NASA Blogs Home)
–
