The James Webb Space Telescope has been through crucial phase of mirror alignment, and the process resulted in the highest resolution infrared image ever taken from space – the result of many years of research and a lot of money invested.
NASA has released the first photo taken by the already (almost) fully configured James Webb space telescope of a distant star situated nearly 2,000 light-years away.
As the agency writes in a press release, the taking of the photo is symbolic because it became possible after all the mirrors (18 of them in total) of the expensive and highly advanced equipment were coordinated with an imaging device called NIRCam.
The 18 gold-plated hexagonal mirrors help the telescope to peer into the cosmos, and for it to work properly, all of these mirrors have to be aligned with extraordinary precision – within nanometres – so that they can really act as one. When the telescope sent back its first images in February, the images were blurry because the mirrors weren’t yet aligned. Now, although the alignment process is yet to be concluded, the image is crystal clear.
Here’s a high resolution version (click to enlarge).
The photo is the highest-resolution infrared image ever taken in outer space, according to NASA, and shows the star 2MASS J17554042+6551277. Of course, Webb will not only look at this object: more scientific results are expected over the summer.
“We have fully aligned and focused the telescope on a star, and the performance is beating specifications. We are excited about what this means for science,” said Ritva Keski-Kuha, deputy optical telescope element manager for Webb at NASA Goddard. “We now know we have built the right telescope.”
NASA experts will make minor adjustments to the telescope in the coming weeks, an essential process for making all the instruments fully operational. The team, meanwhile, will also adjust any small, residual positioning errors in the mirror segments.
This amazing image of a single star is only the beginning. Once the fully functional telescope begins taking images of space, they should help unravel some of the universe’s biggest mysteries, from dark energy to exoplanet habitability.