The James Webb telescope, since its launch last summer to explore the beginnings of the universe and the atmosphere of distant planets, has printed the year 2022 with exceptional images that raise hopes for major discoveries in the coming years.
Since it was placed one and a half million kilometers from Earth, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, which is also still in service, astonishes astronomers with images of unprecedented accuracy, according to “French”.
Also, the accuracy of its launch allows it to continue working for a period of no less than 20 years, after the guaranteed life expectancy was ten years.
“The James Webb telescope is doing better than expected in every respect,” said Massimo Steavelli, the Space Telescope Science Institute’s mission chief who oversees the observatory’s work.
“The tools are more effective, and the vision method is more accurate and stable,” he added.
And the general public benefits from the advantages of this innovation, thanks to the colors that print telescope images that are usually invisible to the naked eye.
And unlike the “Hubble” telescope, which monitors the universe mainly within the visible spectrum range “that the human eye can monitor,” the James Webb telescope is able to “see” in infrared, which is radiation that is naturally emitted by all objects, from celestial bodies to flowers. .
At this longitudinal wave, the James Webb telescope can detect the weakest flashes in deep space, “therefore ancient”, penetrate the barrier of dust that obscures stars in a constellation or analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets thanks to its spectrometers. Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy at Cornell University, USA, said, “The first experiments of the tool in small rocky planets in the habitable zone, which are similar perhaps to Earth, were amazing.”
The James Webb telescope was sent aboard an Ariane 5 rocket at the end of 2021, a long journey launched by NASA more than three decades ago.
After several setbacks, the launch of the 6.2-ton telescope succeeded. Its development cost ten billion dollars and required the concerted efforts of ten thousand people, despite its unprecedented complexities.