The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on December 25, 2021. The first images, such as in the Carina Nebula, astonished researchers.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
hide title
change subtitle
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on December 25, 2021. The first images, such as in the Carina Nebula, astonished researchers.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
A year ago, the James Webb Space Telescope began its journey into space.
“The JWST was launched on Christmas day and then became a gift that took six months to unpack,” said Jane Rigby, an astronomer and Operations Project Scientist at NASA.
The Pillars of Creation were first photographed by Hubble in 1995. Webb’s image reveals numerous newly formed stars shining through columns of gas and dust.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
hide title
change subtitle
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
The Pillars of Creation were first photographed by Hubble in 1995. Webb’s image reveals numerous newly formed stars shining through columns of gas and dust.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
After the first calibration period, the telescope began collecting data. And the first results stunned astronomers.
“I downloaded the data and I’m sitting in my pajamas… you know, it’s a pandemic, we’re all working from home,” Rigby said. “I pulled down this data and started flipping through the pages. I started flowing through them. And it was beautiful.”
The telescope is only five months away from its scientific mission and is already transforming astronomy. The telescope’s instruments allowed it to capture previously unobservable planets, stars and galaxies near and far.
NPR spoke with three astronomers from different astronomy disciplines about how JWST is advancing research in their area of expertise. All agree that JWST is game-changing and there is still a lot of groundbreaking research to be done.
“Ring systems pop up right away and they’re gorgeous”
JWST’s images of Neptune are some of the clearest rings of the planet taken in decades. The bright bluish object is Neptune’s large frozen moon, Triton.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
hide title
change subtitle
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
JWST’s images of Neptune are some of the clearest rings of the planet taken in decades. The bright bluish object is Neptune’s large frozen moon, Triton.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Heidi Hammel is a planetary astronomer and interdisciplinary scientist at Project JWST. She joined the team in 2002 because she wanted to study the planet Neptune.
In September, JWST trained its mirrors on the ice giant.
“When I first saw the image on my computer screen, I was very touched,” Hammel said. “First I started crying, then I started shouting and calling all my relatives to look at this photo!”
This is the clearest image of Neptune’s rings taken by JWST in decades. Observed here at near-infrared wavelengths, Neptune appears ghostly white instead of blue.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
hide title
change subtitle
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
This is the clearest image of Neptune’s rings taken by JWST in decades. Observed here at near-infrared wavelengths, Neptune appears ghostly white instead of blue.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Before JWST, astronomers had never clearly observed Neptune’s ring system, Hammel said. The Voyager spacecraft passed by Neptune in 1989, but was only able to capture the brightest parts of the planet’s rings.
JWST’s instruments detected the rings with unparalleled precision.
“Boom! Ring systems pop up right away and they’re amazing,” Hammel said.
“Like stepping out of a virtual reality into the real world”
Outside of our own solar system, JWST has also helped astronomers observe the oldest and most distant galaxies known.
“For many years I’ve been looking at simulated data and trying to mimic what JWST would see. When I first saw the data, it was like stepping out of a virtual reality into the real world,” said Brant Robertson. and professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Robertson is part of a research team that has discovered the oldest galaxies ever observed. JWST’s instruments allowed his team to identify galaxies that are 13.4 billion years old – galaxies that would have formed less than 400 million years after the Big Bang, a tiny fraction of the universe’s lifespan.
Hundreds of galaxies are visible in this image, which combines the near-infrared colors captured by Webb’s telescope with those of Hubble.
NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Pagan (STScI) & R. Jansen (ASU)
hide title
change subtitle
NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Pagan (STScI) & R. Jansen (ASU)
Hundreds of galaxies are visible in this image, which combines the near-infrared colors captured by Webb’s telescope with those of Hubble.
NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Pagan (STScI) & R. Jansen (ASU)
“By finding these very early galaxies, we can learn something about our history, the history of the universe in general, but also about our home in particular,” Robertson said.
Robertson said that while older telescopes like Hubble have given astronomers an idea of what’s out there, the JWST broadens the scope of what kind of science is possible.
“It’s like opening a book that you’ve been wanting to know for a long time but putting off reading the last paragraph and finally seeing the whole story explained to you,” Robertson said.
“Almost everything we do was not possible before this telescope”
JWST’s Operations Project Scientist Jane Rigby also uses the telescope to study distant galaxies.
A naturally occurring phenomenon called gravitational lensing magnifies light from galaxies that Rigby observed – combining this with JWST, he was able to slice through cosmic dust to study how stars form in these galaxies.
Webb captures an image of a protostar, the beginning of a new star. The “hourglass” of dust and gas clouds can only be seen in infrared light, the wavelengths Webb specializes in.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
hide title
change subtitle
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Webb captures an image of a protostar, the beginning of a new star. The “hourglass” of dust and gas clouds can only be seen in infrared light, the wavelengths Webb specializes in.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
“Almost everything we do was not possible before this telescope,” Rigby said.
Rigby said Hubble’s instruments couldn’t see behind the dust covering these galaxies. Also, JWST’s tools allow astronomers to study the material composition of these galaxies through spectroscopy, a technique commonly used by astronomers to determine the chemical makeup of objects in space.
“We’re studying where stars form in these lensed galaxies in ways that are ridiculously impossible with any other telescope,” Rigby said.
Rigby has already proven that the JWST is an incredible tool for astronomers, but said their biggest discoveries are yet to come.
“We’re just starting to get this flood of papers explaining the discoveries,” he said. Rigby said JWST has been used to study planets in our own solar system, the atmospheres of planets in other solar systems, how stars die, how galaxies develop, and much more.
Pictured here in unprecedented detail, a dying star is expelling gas and dust. Photos like this one from JWST will help us understand how stars evolve.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
hide title
change subtitle
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Pictured here in unprecedented detail, a dying star is expelling gas and dust. Photos like this one from JWST will help us understand how stars evolve.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Rigby says that although the JWST is significantly more powerful than previous telescopes, astronomers can use Hubble to supplement their observations of the JWST.
“In many ways, JWST was built to do things Hubble couldn’t, so they play really well together,” Rigby said. “The pitcher and catcher on your baseball team do different things.”
Rigby said the telescope has enough propellant to last more than 20 years in space, so it’s possible it will surpass its planned minimum five-year mission.
“I think next year will be more exciting than this year,” Rigby said.
After all, it will take time to examine the data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope and see how much it can change our understanding of the many mysteries of the universe.
