Page 14 - The Indian EYE 090922

OP-ED SEPTEMBER 09, 2022 | The Indian Eye 14

JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE:

A landmark endeavor in the Space

What is so special about this telescope, and why is there so much anticipation around it?

The images that have been released give us some idea of its capabilities.

A fascinating image sent by the telescope. Credit: NASA

first humans in space through the captured faint red-shifted light from is not going to be able to support life
Apollo missions. Three Indian origin ancient galaxies, some more than 13 in the near future.
scientists – Ms. Hashima Hasan, Ms. billion years old. Scientists will be The expectations from James
Kalyani Sukhatme and Mr. Kartik able to watch the first stars and gal- Webb are enormous, and it is going
Sheth have been part of its journey. axies, probing the mysterious pro- to change the world of astronomy.
The first images from the telescope cesses that took the universe from The telescope is supposed to run for
were released by NASA last month. its dark ages and thrust us into the more than ten years, although like its
A successor of the Hubble tele- era of light. predecessor the Hubble telescope it
scope, the James Webb is a marvel Helping us understand how gal- might run for much longer. Future
of engineering. The mirror of the axies evolve and black holes emerge. astronomers would need to be adept
telescope is 6.5 meters in diameter, It will be like a peep back in time. at computer simulations, and even
SADHNA SHANKER bigger than any mirror previously The spectacular images also give biology to unravel the information
launched into space. Along with a us an idea about interacting galaxies that will be received.
he newspapers these days secondary mirror, both covered by a with clarity. There is much going on Telescopes answer many ques-
have beautiful colorful images, thin layer of gold to optimize func- in colliding galaxies, with new stars tions. Hubble revealed that the
Twhich look like lights in the sky. tioning – the telescope has excited being born, the faint glow of dust universe was much older than we
These spectacular images are coming astronomers across the globe. between them to the blazing light as thought, and brought information
from the James Webb Telescope. The The telescope would be using hydrogen falls into a black hole. The about dark matter and dark energy.
10-billion-dollar telescope, orbits the infrared astronomy. In simple terms, cosmic dance that interacting galax- James Web too will answer many
Sun in line with Earth at a point near- it would be able to capture light in ies exhibit would lead to a better un- others, but on its journey, it will also
ly 1.5 million kms away. It represents the infrared part of the spectrum – derstanding of where our own Milky throw up many surprises and ques-
the latest giant leap in humanity’s helping astronomers capture these Way is headed. tions for humanity to dwell on. That
quest to understand the universe. rays traveling across billions of years The most interesting informa- is the magic of science. Hopefully,
A joint effort of NASA, the Eu- in space. tion that is likely to come is that of the young around the world will see
ropean Space Agency and the Cana- What is so special about this possible habitable planets. Apart the images and feel curious about the
dian Space Agency the telescope set telescope, and why is there so much from images, Webb also sent back universe, and maybe get interested in
out on its journey on 25th December anticipation around it? The images analysis of Wasp-96b, about 1150 space and science.
2021. It is named after James E Webb that have been released give us some light years away. It shows the pres-
who was administrator of NASA in idea of its capabilities. ence of water and clouds and haze. Sadhna Shanker is a writer based in
the 1960s, and responsible for the The first images released have But it orbits its star too closely, and New Delhi, India

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