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James Webb Space Telescope’s Raw Data Used to Create Breathtaking Images of Spiral Galaxies

After capturing the deepest and sharpest infrared picture of the distant universe, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has inspired some captivating photos, formed using its data. A citizen scientist named Judy Schmidt processed the raw data obtained by JWST and transformed it into some of the most breathtaking pictures of two spiral galaxies. The galaxies, NGC 628 and NGC 7496, are both located near the Milky Way galaxy and are being studied as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS).

The NGC 628 spiral galaxy or the Phantom Galaxy, whose image was processed by Judy Schmidt, is located just 32 million light-years away and offers a good amount of details for study. It is considered a grand-design galaxy which has prominent, unobscured and well-formed arms. The galaxy becomes significant and astronomers have found at least three supernovae in NGC 628.

The NGC 7496, meanwhile, is known as barred galaxy with its spiral arms extending from a distinct bar that tends to cross the centre of the galaxy. The formation is said to be due to the uneven density in the galactic disk. Region with high density pulls the star towards it and that results in bars. NGC 7496 is at a distance of 24 million light-years.

The gas in such bars is channeled inwards which makes them a region for rich star formation. With its clear visibility, NGC 7496 offers scientists a great laboratory for studying the formation of stars.

Let’s just see what JWST observed yesterday…
Oh, good god. pic.twitter.com/8UQWi2zPlR

— gbrammer (@gbrammer) July 18, 2022

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope both work in different lights and thus produce different images. While the Hubble telescope is an optical and ultraviolet instrument, the JWST operates in infrared light and has the capability to detect light behind gas and dust in optical wavelength. The observations of both the telescopes thus turn out be complimentary where Hubble captures the dust while JWST peers into it to look at the newborn stars.



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NASA to Reveal More Deep Space Images From James Webb Space Telescope Today: How to Watch

After releasing the first full-colour image of deep space captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA is gearing up to release a bunch of images during a live broadcast on July 12. The US space agency had earlier decided to release all the images together, however, US President Joe Biden and NASA administrator Bill Nelson unveiled an image at a special live streamed event at the White House in Washington DC. The image captured a scene from 13 billion light-years away.

If you missed the reveal of the first image of deep space, you can still follow the release of the rest of the images. NASA has invited people to join them in the live unveiling of the images, which is scheduled to be broadcast at 10:30am EST (8:00pm IST) on July 12. Those Interested people can watch the live unveiling on NASA’s YouTube channel or NASA website. NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the James Webb Space Telescope’s images and spectroscopic data from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope to be placed in orbit, was able to capture the clearest image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion years. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The total mass of this cluster acts as a gravitational lens, bending light from more distant galaxies behind it towards the observatory, in a cosmic magnification effect.

As per NASA, the deep field image was taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). “The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features,” it added. Webb is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 1.6 million kilometres from Earth and the cost of building this telescope is estimated to be $10 billion (roughly Rs. 80,000 crore).

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NASA Shows Off First James Webb Space Telescope Image, SMACS 0723 Galaxy Cluster Seen in Stunning Detail

NASA has released the first full-colour image of deep space captured by the James Webb Space Telescope and it’s just as stunning as we’ve been expecting. US President Joe Biden and NASA administrator Bill Nelson unveiled the first image at a special live streamed event at the White House in Washington DC, showing a scene from 13 billion light-years away.

“This first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail,” NASA said in its release. Here’s a link to a high-resolution version of the image.

NASA details that the deep field image was taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), and shows the SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. “The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features,” it added.

Further images will be released by NASA via a live broadcast and press conference at 8pm IST (10:30am ET) on July 12. The James Webb Space Telescope is said to be powerful enough to detect objects much older and farther away than anything so far seen by the Hubble Space Telescope or any observatory on Earth. 

A list of initial targets for the James Webb Telescope to be aimed at was released by the space agency last week, and had included the SMACS 0723 cluster, apart from Carina Nebula, WASP-96 b (spectrum), Southern Ring Nebula, and Stephan’s Quintet.

After decades of anticipation and a highly publicised series of delays, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in December 2021. It is the largest observatory ever launched into space, and has cost an estimated $9.7 billion. It is equipped with a primary mirror that measures 6.5m across, comprised of 18 hexagonal segments, and mainly captures infrared light. This means it can capture about six times as much light as the Hubble Space Telescope. Its position at the Lagrange Point (approximately four times farther from the Earth than the Moon) allows it to orbit the sun in sync with the Earth. The apparatus must be maintained at temperatures below 50 Kelvin (-223 degrees Celsius).      

During its lifetime, the James Webb Space Telescope is expected to observe the oldest stars and could aid in discoveries of new exoplanets. 

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