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Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science at the University ofLeicester.
We will enter a new era of astronomy if everything goes according to plan. The largest and most complex space telescope ever built is now in space, heading to its final destination.
Thousands of scientists, engineers, managers and support staff who brought the mission to this point were both excited and scared when the James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day. I shared their nervousness as chair of the Space Telescope Science Institute Council, which will run the operations centre. Some of the biggest questions about the universe could be answered by the scientific potential of JWST.
The engineering behind the first light machine is not allowed to fail.
I would prefer to see the telescope as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble has been operating for more than 30 years and has given us amazing views of the universe and many thousands of scientific results. We hope that it will continue for many more years.
The relatively small mirror, compared to ground-based telescopes, limits its sensitivity and ability to observe the faintest objects. Hubble can observe in some light, but it cannot see the wavelength of light from the earliest stars and galaxies. The JWST will be able to do that. Population III stars, which formed from primordial material from the Bigbang, have never been seen before.
Knowing when the first stars were formed and how they produced the building blocks of the first galaxies is one of the main science goals of the JWST. We know that carbon, silicone and gold were created in early stars, but we don't have a good idea of how this happened.
The design of the observatory has been influenced by the need to detect faint objects in the distant universe and the need to keep it cool.
Studying the first stars and galaxies is not the only scientific programme that will be performed by the JWST. Astronomers from around the world can apply for time to support their research at the observatory. It is possible to see through the clouds of dust that enshroud young stars with the help of the JWST.
It will be able to see into stellar nurseries, where stars and their planetary systems are being born. The observations will answer questions about how clouds of dust and gas collapse to form stars and how planetary systems form around them.
There are stars in the constellation Orion. M. Robberto is a member of the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team.
Habitability on planets.
No planets other than our own solar system were discussed in the first plans for JWST. Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets around other stars. The study of their atmospheres will be a significant portion of the observing programme. The wavelength coverage of JWST is very good for studying molecule in exoplanet atmospheres and the low IR background from space, giving it a considerable advantage over Earth-based telescopes.
There are two techniques available. One can take advantage of the fact that planets can pass in front of their parent star, creating a dip in the light we see from it. By analyzing the light, broken down by wavelength, we can see what is in the atmosphere. A coronagraph is a special instrument that blocks the light from the parent star to allow direct images of the planet. It could help uncover whether a planet is suitable for life, and one day send mini space probes there.
The goal of finding a planet similar to the Earth would require a very lucky combination of circumstances, because they are likely to be rare in the solar neighbourhood and very faint compared to the parent star. Jupiter, Saturn, and ice giants are likely to be studied by the JWST. Our own planetary systems are not like them, with many giant planets in close proximity to ours, and more extreme heating of their atmospheres and more dynamic weather conditions.
In addition to studying planets outside of our solar system, we will be able to observe our home planetary system. It will be possible to identify comets and other icy bodies in the outer regions of the solar system. These objects are largely unchanged since their formation, and may contain clues to the origins of Earth, particularly the source of its water, which may be the result of bombardment by such bodies early in its lifetime.
All the planets that lie outside Earth's orbit of the sun will be studied by the JWST.
Detailed plans and ideas for what will be discovered are essential justification for the expense of building a telescope. Nobody can anticipate the discoveries that will be made. When Hubble was launched, the idea of exoplanets was mostly science fiction, yet studying them became one of its major tasks. I am curious about what science will be like with JWST.
The Conversation's article is a Creative Commons licensed one. The original article can be found here.
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