First Images From NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Coming Soon
hubie writes:
Webb Telescope will release its first full-color images and spectroscopic data on July 12, 2022:
As the largest and most complex observatory ever launched into space, Webb has been going through a six-month period of preparation before it can begin science work, calibrating its instruments to its space environment and aligning its mirrors. This careful process, not to mention years of new technology development and mission planning, has built up to the first images and data: a demonstration of Webb at its full power, ready to begin its science mission and unfold the infrared universe.
[...] Deciding what Webb should look at first has been a project more than five years in the making, undertaken by an international partnership between NASA, ESA, CSA, and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, home to Webb's science and mission operations.
"Our goals for Webb's first images and data are both to showcase the telescope's powerful instruments and to preview the science mission to come," said astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist at STScI. "They are sure to deliver a long-awaited 'wow' for astronomers and the public."
[...] While careful planning for Webb's first full-color images has been underway for a long time, the new telescope is so powerful that it is difficult to predict exactly how the first images will look. "Of course, there are things we are expecting and hoping to see, but with a new telescope and this new high-resolution infrared data, we just won't know until we see it," said STScI's lead science visuals developer Joseph DePasquale.
[...] After capturing its first images, Webb's scientific observations will begin, continuing to explore the mission's key science themes. Teams have already applied through a competitive process for time to use the telescope, in what astronomers call its first "cycle," or first year of observations. Observations are carefully scheduled to make the most efficient use of the telescope's time.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.