Whoop! There it is!
Posted on 03/19/2022 4:27:13 AM PDT by Nateman
Explanation: 2MASS J17554042+6551277 doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but that's the name, a coordinate-based catalog designation, of the star centered in this sharp field of view. Fans of the distant universe should get used to its spiky appearance though. The diffraction pattern is created by the 18 hexagonal mirror segments of the James Webb Space Telescope. After unfolding, the segments have now been adjusted to achieve a diffraction limited alignment at infrared wavelengths while operating in concert as a single 6.5 meter diameter primary mirror. The resulting image taken by Webb's NIRcam demonstrates their precise alignment is the best physics will allow. 2MASS J17554042+6551277 is about 2,000 light-years away and well within our own galaxy. But the galaxies scattered across the background of the Webb telescope alignment evaluation image are likely billions of light-years distant, far beyond the Milky Way.
This image is a test image. They picked a star that looked all alone and have been slowly adjusting all the mirrors to focus in upon it. This latest image has all the segments finally all working together as one. What is neat is all the distant galaxies that showed up in the background . This proves this telescope is really doing exactly what it was meant to do: see the galaxies back in time to when the Universe was still young.
Whoop! There it is!
Next December we can call this the Christmas Star!
Funny you mentioned Christmas. That is the day the telescope finally got launched! It is now in its final wierd orbit going around and around Earth’s shadow. It needed some sunlight to power things so it could not actually sit in Earth’s shadow at the Lagrange point.
The Webb was behind schedule and over budget because the specs kept being changed. Once finally set it went reasonably quick
Sounds like the same insanity that went on with building some nuclear power plants .While under construction they kept on changing the blueprints! Someone here mentioned the real purpose of NASA nowadays is to pump money into the Districts of influential Congressmen. Seeing as how the Federal Government has become little better than a criminal syndicate with its grubby hands in everyone’s pocket I find that easy to believe.
According to the Star Registry, that one is all mine.
You picked a rather obscure star. It is 1000 times too faint to be seen by the human eye. That it blazes forth in this test picture is a tribute to just how powerful this telescope is.
We marvel in wonder at the worlds out there!
I’ve been an Astronomy fan since I was a kid. I kept track of all the NASA missions to the planets and especially the race to land a man on the moon. In spite of all that the most wonderous known planet of all is right at home because of the life here.
While looking at NASA's website filled with pictures of the Webb mission one picture in particular caught my attention. One if the VIP's wearing these socks! If you want one , too bad , it's out of stock.
Cool threads daddy-o.
Can you get a matching umbrella, or bumshooter as they call them in England?
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