The James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to do science — and it's seeing the universe more clearly than even its own engineers hoped for

The Conversation contributed the article to Space.com's expert voices.

The University of Arizona has a regents professor of astronomy.

The first images from the James Webb Space Telescope are expected to be released by NASA.

The beginning of the next era in astronomy will be marked by the beginning of collecting scientific data that will help answer questions about the earliest moments of the universe and allow astronomer to study exoplanets in greater detail than ever before. It has taken nearly eight months for the most valuable of telescopes to be ready for prime time.

The scientist in charge of one of the four cameras on the telescope explains what she and her colleagues have been doing to get it up and running.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is live.

1. What's happened since the telescope launched?

The team began the long process of moving the telescope into its final position after it was launched in December of 2011.

The launch was smooth as can be. One of the first things my colleagues at NASA noticed was that the telescope had more fuel on board than expected. The goal of the mission was to operate for 10 years.

The telescope was the first task to be accomplished during the journey.

Once the sun shield was open, our team began monitoring the temperatures of the four cameras and spectrometers onboard, waiting for them to reach temperatures low enough so that we could begin testing the different modes in which the instruments can operate.

2. What did you test first?

The cameras cooled just as the engineers predicted, and the first instrument the team turned on was the NIR cam. The light from the oldest stars in the universe is known as the faint IR light. The 18 individual segments of the mirror had to be aligned before it could be done.

The telescope's first images were produced when it was cold enough to see light reflected off of the mirror segments. When the first light image arrived, the team was overjoyed. We were making money.

The mirror segments were pointing at a relatively small area of the sky, and the alignment was better than we had planned for.

The Fine Guidance Sensor went into operation. It's similar to image stabilization in consumer digital cameras. When using the star HD84800 as a reference point, my colleagues helped dial in the alignment of the mirror segments until it was virtually perfect, far better than the minimum required for a successful mission.

3. What sensors came alive next?

After the mirror alignment wrapped up on March 11, the Near IR Spectrograph and the Near IR imager joined the party.

The purpose of NIRSpec is to measure the strength of different wavelength of light. The composition and temperature of distant stars can be revealed. The NIRSpec looks at its target through a slit.

NIRspec can look at 100 objects at the same time. After testing the multiple targets mode, team members confirmed that the slit were responding correctly to commands. Future steps will make sure that multiple targets can be seen at the same time.

It is better to observe all the objects in a field than it is to observe them on a slit. Two of the modes are designed to study exoplanets that are close to their parent stars.

The instrument checks and calibrations have been going well so far, and the results show that both NIRSpec and NIRISS will deliver even better data than predicted.

4. What was the last instrument to turn on?

The Mid-Infrared instrument was the last instrument to be put on the computer. It is designed to take photos of distant or newly formed galaxies. 11 degrees F above absolute zero is what this sensor needs to be kept at. The interesting objects out in space would not be picked up by the detectors if it were any warmer. The instrument could not be turned on before the cooling system was fully operational.

There are hints that there are galaxies hidden by dust that are visible to the human eye. The extremely cold temperatures allow MIRI to be incredibly sensitive to light in the mid-infrared range, which allows it to pass through dust more quickly. The stars and structures in the dust clouds can be seen for the first time with the help of the sensitivity and mirror.

5. What's next for Webb?

All of the instruments have taken their first pictures. There are six modes left, four of which have been tested and certified.

On July 12th, NASA will release a set of observations that show the capabilities of the project. Astronomers will get a glimpse of the quality of data they will receive when they see these.

After July 12 the telescope will be working full-time. Astronomers are eagerly waiting to get the first data from the most powerful space telescope ever built, but the schedule for the coming year hasn't been released.

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