A new era has begun in the history of space research
A new era has begun in the history of space research. The James Webb Space Telescope, a new space telescope sent by NASA, took pictures many years before the birth of the Earth. According to scientists, the age of the Earth is approximately 5 billion years, but with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, it was possible to take pictures of 13.5 billion years ago. How this impossible task became possible will be discussed in this article.
Due to various limitations of telescopes installed on Earth, scientists feel the need to install telescopes in space. The construction of a space telescope called the Hubble Space Telescope began 10 years before the founding of NASA. After a long pursuit, the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space on April 24, 1990. On May 20, 1990, the Hubble Telescope sent its first image back to Earth. Hubble's successor is the James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched on December 25, 2021. The first image of this telescope was released on July 11, 2022. NASA's new space telescope is 100 times more powerful than the previous Hubble telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope orbited the Earth, but the James Webb Space Telescope will orbit the Sun.
However, the main difference between the Hubble and James Webb telescopes is their point of view. The Hubble Telescope can take images using all wavelengths of light, from ultraviolet to infrared. On the other hand, the James Webb Telescope takes pictures using long infrared waves. The James Webb Telescope is about to complete what Hubble left unfinished. The James Webb Space Telescope will operate with two main goals. First, taking pictures of the primordial stars burning in the universe 14 billion years ago. And secondly, to find out whether the distant planets are habitable. The first published image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope is SMACS 0723. This image is considered to be the highest quality image of space ever taken.
Because in this image, thousands of tiny planets have come up in depth. If you stand on Earth and look at a speck of dust an arm's distance away, the matter will be very small, so the planets and stars in this picture are just as small compared to the universe. Simply put, the tiny planets in the picture are nothing compared to the universe. By analyzing the quality of data from this telescope, scientists understand that it is possible to capture much deeper cosmic images with this telescope than what is seen in the image. As a result, this powerful telescope will be able to explain and collect information about many unknown aspects of space. Now the question is, how did James Webb capture such an earlier picture? We know that light travels a distance of 186,000 miles per second. All the light that was scattered from the original lagna of creation, is still floating in space.
According to scientists, the age of the universe is 13.80 billion years. The light rays in the image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope began traveling about 13.5 billion years ago. This means that with the help of this telescope, scientists have gone almost back to the beginning of the creation of the universe. Space explorers can probe deeper into the mysteries of the universe by following the scattered rays of light from the primordial sun of creation. Hubble's importance did not end with the arrival of a new telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope. This is not the case at all. Still, observations of space's ultraviolet and visible light have to go back to Hubble. More importantly, the images of the universe that will be captured using the James Webb Space Telescope will depend on data from Hubble. All of James's goals are based on Hubble's observations.
But images from the James Webb Space Telescope will be captured more easily and clearly. Using the Hubble telescope to take pictures would have to wait for weeks. But the James Webb Space Telescope took just 12.30 hours of observation and captured such images from deep in the universe. The telescope is placed at a distance of 15 lakh km from the earth. The temperature of space this far from Earth is -233 degrees Celsius. These ultra-cool temperatures provide the perfect environment for James Webb Space Telescope imaging. The main purpose of sending it so far from Earth is to keep the telescope equipment cool. As the telescope traveled by Earth, heat reflected from Earth would heat up its instruments, causing problems with the telescope's ultra-precise measurements.
The James Webb Space Telescope was commissioned by NASA's second director, James E. Named after the web. He led the Apollo missions, the mission that landed humans on the moon. The highly sensitive James Webb Space Telescope has been built as a joint effort of European, American and Canadian space research. In addition, more than 300 university organizations and companies from 14 countries have directly participated in the implementation of this project. It took 30 years of effort to discover this device, which cost 10 billion dollars to build.
The James Webb Space Telescope is one of the most complex and sensitive spacecraft ever built. After the Hubble Telescope was launched into space, it was assumed that the instrument would have a 15-year operational life. But the telescope is still working after 5 repairs and updates, more than double its potential life, nearly 32 years. There is no way to repair or update the instrument after the James Webb Space Telescope is launched into space, as it is beyond anyone's ability to go that far. Scientists expect the James Webb Space Telescope to operate effortlessly for the next 10 years, but the spacecraft has been fueled for 20 years.
In order for the telescope to continue working after its expiration date, many scientists consider the Hubble Space Telescope to be an even more important and groundbreaking discovery than the man landing on the moon. And it goes without saying that the James Webb Space Telescope is much more valuable. Because the desire of scientists to see the end of the universe with this telescope is not only increasing people's desire to know about space, but also the desire to travel and live in space is increasing day by day. As part of that preparation, the researchers succeeded in growing vegetables in their soil. Almost 50 years ago today, the soil collected on the moon by NASA's Apollo missions has successfully grown fruit.
