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Recently, an interesting video was released while NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, Webb Telescope) was capturing fantastic images of space. On the 21st (local time), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which co-developed the Webb telescope, posted on Twitter a video showing its use of the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) to reach its target, the Southern Ring Nebula.
FGS, believed to have been developed by Canada, is a device that helps the Webb telescope accurately point and focus at distant targets. This video is interesting because it gives the impression that a human spacecraft is visiting the Southern Ring Nebula.
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Of course, it is possible only in sci-fi movies, but it is true that it gives awe and interest to the universe. Although the actual public image is only 20 seconds, the Southern Ring Nebula is located in the constellation Sail, 2,000 light-years away.
The Southern Ring Nebula is a representative planetary nebula (planetary nebula) with a diameter of regarding 0.5 light-years. In general, when a star reaches its terminal stage, the hydrogen in its core is exhausted and only helium remains and contracts. Then, the outer hydrogen starts to ignite with the thermal energy generated by the contraction, and it swells into a red giant. After that, the remaining gas becomes a planetary nebula, and the remaining debris at the center gathers to form a white dwarf the size of the Earth. The final image of the soon dying Southern Ring Nebula is captured in this photograph.
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The Webb Telescope, the largest and most powerful telescope in human history, was built to replace the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been conducting space exploration missions for more than 30 years since 1990.
The Webb telescope, launched on December 25 last year, following flying 1.6 million km, safely arrived at the second Lagrange point (L2), where the gravity of the sun and the earth are balanced, and is currently performing its mission.
By Park Jong-ik, staff reporter pji@seoul.co.kr
