How the James Webb Space Telescope changed astronomy in its first year

Astronomers and space fans from all over the world gathered to watch the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope was over budget and behind schedule and was named after a former NASA administrator who has been accused of homophobia.

The scientific ability of the telescope is remarkable despite the debates over its name and history. Astronomers have been able to get new views and discover mysteries about a huge range of space topics since it began its science operations.

One of the most ambitious projects in the history of astronomy is to look back at some of the first galaxies, which formed when the universe was new.

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

As light takes time to travel from its source to us here on Earth, astronomer can look back in time to see the earliest galaxies that formed 13 billion years ago.

There was some debate over the accuracy of some of the first detections, but recent findings have supported the idea that the most distant galaxies were older than previously thought.

The earliest galaxies ever observed had some surprises in store, such as being much brighter than expected. There is more we can learn about how the universe began.

Surveys and deep field images are used to identify the early galaxies, which may look empty at first glance. These areas don't have bright objects like solar system planets and are located away from the center of our galaxy, which allows astronomer to look out into the depths of space to spot these far off objects.

For the first time, the JWST was able to detect carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, as well as a host of other compounds. Scientists can see the composition of the planet's atmosphere, but they can also see how the atmosphere interacts with light from the planet's host star.

If we want to find Earth-like planets and look for life, we need to learn about the atmospheres of exoplanets. Basic information about exoplanets, such as their mass or diameter, can be determined using previous generation tools. To understand what it would be like to be on one of these planets, we need to know about their atmosphere. Astronomers will be able to find planets far away from our solar system with the data from JWST.

Image: NASA

The distant planets are not the only ones that have been receiving attention. Closer to home, JWST has been used to study planets in our solar system, including Neptune and Jupiter. A clear view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot was one of the features that was picked out by the JWST. The high accuracy of the telescope allowed it to see small objects even against the light of the planets. It was the clearest image of Neptune's rings in more than three decades.

One of the major investigations done this year was of Mars. Over the years, Mars has hosted numerous rovers, landers, and satellites. Astronomers have a good understanding of its atmospheric composition and are learning about its weather system. It's difficult for a sensitive space-based telescope to study Mars because it's so bright. It was the perfect place to test the new telescope.

The composition of Mars' atmosphere was shown to be almost exactly the same as the model from current data, showing how accurate the instruments are for this type of investigation.

Calculating the lifecycle of stars is one of the aims of JWST. They know clouds of dust and gas form knots that gather more material to them, but they don't know how that happens. They are learning about the regions where stars form.

JWST's instruments allow it to look through clouds of dust to see where stars are forming. Recent images show the development of stars and the clouds they throw off, as well as looking into regions of star formation, such as the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. The features of dust and star formation can be seen by the instruments.

ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus,

One of the biggest legacies of the public is the images of space it has captured. The first images of the telescope were released in July and have been seen around the world.

As well as the gorgeous Carina Nebula and first deep field, other images worth taking a minute to wonder over include the star-sculpted shapes of the Tarantula Nebula and Wolf-Rayet 140.

The new image was released last week and shows the bright heart of the galaxy.

There are many more discoveries to be made in a year.