“Our goal for Webb’s first images and data was to showcase the telescope’s powerful instruments and to view upcoming science missions,” astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb’s project scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said in a statement. SpaceThursday (2/6/2022).
“They are sure to deliver the long-awaited ‘wow’ to astronomers and the public.
Although Webb’s team has shared some of the images, these are all provisional alignment images taken to evaluate the observatory’s capabilities. According to NASA, the July 12 images will come after each instrument has been calibrated, tested, and greenlighted by its science and engineering team.
NASA stressed that despite all the moons of careful alignment since December 2021, Webb’s launch, it is difficult to predict exactly how the new image will look. High resolution infrared display of universe would be unique, as Webb operates in outer space and has an 18-segment hexagonal mirror that collects sharp images that are expected to show the first galaxies, early in the history of the universe.
The new images will be available in full color and are meant to demonstrate the breadth of Webb’s scientific capabilities. This means that not only images will be included, but also spectroscopic data to show elemental composition and other information that astronomers can infer from the light spectrum.
“The first pack of image materials will highlight the science themes that inspired the mission and will be the focus of its work: the early universe, the evolution of galaxies through time, the life cycles of stars, and other worlds,” NASA said.
What Webb will focus on in its first year of operation is called Cycle 1. NASA has published a list of planned investigations following a competition within the science community to determine the highest priority work, a process that will be repeated every year for the life of the observatory.
“As we near the end of preparing observatories for science, we are on the verge of a period of very exciting discoveries about our universe,” Eric Smith, Webb program scientist at NASA, said in a statement.
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