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James Webb Space Telescope updated Jan 13, 2024….😱 Video of discoveries far and near!🧨

The Spin Meister

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An altered state
The Webb scope will be 100 times stronger than the Hubble. Think how amazing the Hubble is and then try to imagine what the Webb will discover.

The launch date is flexible and can be launched on any day unlike many launches with narrow windows. Then after launch it will take a month to be positioned 1.2 million miles from earth to the second Lagrange point where it will be in a stationary position. Then it it will be several more months before it is fully activated. So next spring we will be re-writing all of our science books!

 
I am excited for this too... have been waiting for it for a long time. COVID caused major delays but it'll be worth it. Seeing exoplanet atmospheres may be the next major era of astronomy. The long-duration exposure equivalent of the Hubble Deep Field with Webb will be absolutely amazing.
 
Great....husbands of alien wives will have to put up curtains for no apparent reason

tenor.gif
 
I am excited for this too... have been waiting for it for a long time. COVID caused major delays but it'll be worth it. Seeing exoplanet atmospheres may be the next major era of astronomy. The long-duration exposure equivalent of the Hubble Deep Field with Webb will be absolutely amazing.
Included here are some of the goals of the JWST program. Anyone interested in science needs to follow this.

 
I am excited for this too... have been waiting for it for a long time. COVID caused major delays but it'll be worth it. Seeing exoplanet atmospheres may be the next major era of astronomy. The long-duration exposure equivalent of the Hubble Deep Field with Webb will be absolutely amazing.
Most of the major delays were not caused by Covid as the original planned launch date was 2007. But with the Hubble in protective safe mode since June 13, and no idea why, it's great that the JWST is finally getting off the ground.
 
For anyone whose shares an interest in space but hasn't found this website yet, I always like to scroll the pictures here.


Includes Hubble pictures, like this one, though there is a "Hubble" website as well.
tadpole_HubbleBiju_3852.jpg
 
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Thanks. Amazing. So looking forward to this.
Curiously, in reading this "New Yorker" article there's an imbedded video "Who Owns The Moon" and some background on the "Outer Space Treaty" which was first created following Russia's launch of Sputnik. Appears there will be lots of controversy, legal wrangling, and discord when some nation readies to launch for a mission to mine some asteroid, especially as it appears the US has already 'legalized space mining' in 2015.
Here's a summation of this from Wikipedia:

"The Outer Space Treaty represents the basic legal framework of international space law. Among its principles, it bars states party to the treaty from placing weapons of mass destruction in Earth orbit, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or otherwise stationing them in outer space. It specifically limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes, and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications (Article IV). However, the treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit, and thus some highly destructive attack tactics, such as kinetic bombardment, are still potentially allowable. The treaty also states that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and that space shall be free for exploration and use by all the states.

The treaty explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial body such as the Moon or a planet. Article II of the treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." However, the state that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object. The state is also liable for damages caused by its space object.

Being primarily an arms-control treaty for the peaceful use of outer space, it offers limited and ambiguous regulations to newer space activities such as lunar and asteroid mining. It therefore remains under contention whether the extraction of resources falls within the prohibitive language of appropriation or whether the use encompasses the commercial use and exploitation. Seeking clearer guidelines, private U.S. companies lobbied the U.S. government, and space mining was legalized in 2015 by introducing the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015. Similar national legislation to legalize the appropriation of extraterrestrial resources are now being introduced by other countries, including Luxembourg, Japan, China, India, and Russia, This has created some controversy regarding legal claims over the mining of celestial bodies for profit."
 
Good article. Didn’t know the specifics of the launch. Interesting it has a very long trip before launch.
It's quite an informative article.

The most distant object we can see with the naked eye is the Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million light years away. With the Webb telescope, we can go back 13.5 billion years, to when the universe was only 250 million years old.
 
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It's quite an informative article.

The most distant object we can see with the naked eye is the Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million light years away. With the Webb telescope, we can go back 13.5 billion years, to when the universe was only 250 million years old.
How will it get explained when Betty White is seen at the limit of Webb’s resolution and simultaneously here on earth in 2021?
 
A friend is highly placed with the Giant Magellan Telescope being built on a peak in the Atacama Desert of Chile. It is a consortium of several universities and countries and it will be 2029 before it's commissioned..
 
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Update from two days ago. Telescope has been tested, approved, and packaged for shipment. Two months to go!

Cool time lapse video of preparations in link.

 
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Then after launch it will take a month to be positioned 1.2 million miles from earth to the second Lagrange point where it will be in a stationary position.

The distance of this telescope from Earth is, at least to me, one of the most intriguing aspects of it. 1.2 million miles! (I believe the moon is 234,000 miles from earth, so this telescope will be more than five times farther away.)

I have no idea what the "second Lagrange point" means, and was curious concerning the statement that the telescope will be maintained "in a stationary position," so I consulted the FAQ list that someone posted. A quick review of that FAQ list did not appear to provide an answer concerning the Lagrange point, but the answer to a question concerning the life of this project DID answer the question concerning its location.

The FAQ answer stated that the project has an estimated life of 5 to 10 years, which is largely governed by the amount of fuel on board to provide propulsion to the vehicle containing the telescope. This propulsion is apparently necessary to maintain the telescope "in orbit." I have to assume they are talking about an orbit of the Earth. Which also makes me wonder how much gravitational pull the Earth has on an object that is 1.2 million miles distant.
 
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The distance of this telescope from Earth is, at least to me, one of the most intriguing aspects of it. 1.2 million miles! (I believe the moon is 234,000 miles from earth, so this telescope will be more than five times farther away.)

I have no idea what the "second Lagrange point" means, and was curious concerning the statement that the telescope will be maintained "in a stationary position," so I consulted the FAQ list that someone posted. A quick review of that FAQ list did not appear to provide an answer concerning the Lagrange point, but the answer to a question concerning the life of this project DID answer the question concerning its location.

The FAQ answer stated that the project has an estimated life of 5 to 10 years, which is largely governed by the amount of fuel on board to provide propulsion to the vehicle containing the telescope. This propulsion is apparently necessary to maintain the telescope "in orbit." I have to assume they are talking about an orbit of the Earth. Which also makes me wonder how much gravitational pull the Earth has on an object that is 1.2 million miles distant.
Follow the links on the Webb wiki page. Lagrange points are natural locations where the gravity of various bodies balance out each other. In this case Earth and Sun. The Webb will be locked into this point but needs fuel for occasional adjustments.

It will not orbit earth but be locked into a solar orbit synchronized with earth.

What is fascinating is that there are some celestial bodies already in a couple Lagrange points of Various sizes. So earth has what could be called mini moons.

 
The distance of this telescope from Earth is, at least to me, one of the most intriguing aspects of it. 1.2 million miles! (I believe the moon is 234,000 miles from earth, so this telescope will be more than five times farther away.)

I have no idea what the "second Lagrange point" means, and was curious concerning the statement that the telescope will be maintained "in a stationary position," so I consulted the FAQ list that someone posted. A quick review of that FAQ list did not appear to provide an answer concerning the Lagrange point, but the answer to a question concerning the life of this project DID answer the question concerning its location.

The FAQ answer stated that the project has an estimated life of 5 to 10 years, which is largely governed by the amount of fuel on board to provide propulsion to the vehicle containing the telescope. This propulsion is apparently necessary to maintain the telescope "in orbit." I have to assume they are talking about an orbit of the Earth. Which also makes me wonder how much gravitational pull the Earth has on an object that is 1.2 million miles distant.



Lagrangianpointsanimated.gif
 
Hmmm. I wonder what a human portrait would look like if created in that fashion.
Snakes

snake-vision


(Image via redtailboa)​

Snakes have two sets of eyes. One set is the normal eyes that you see, and they detect color quite well. But they also have vision pits that detect heat and “see” living creatures like an infrared detector. There is no getting away from a snake once you’re spotted. That closed door won’t help. Luckily most snakes are more likely to retreat than attack.
 
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Snakes

snake-vision


(Image via redtailboa)​

Snakes have two sets of eyes. One set is the normal eyes that you see, and they detect color quite well. But they also have vision pits that detect heat and “see” living creatures like an infrared detector. There is no getting away from a snake once you’re spotted. That closed door won’t help. Luckily most snakes are more likely to retreat than attack.

Thanks for finding that to illustrate and answer my query. I figured it meant it would not be a 'sharp' image but this example is more detailed than I was expecting. I guess from whatever xxxxzillion light years away it's still going to be very, very good. Can't wait. Thanks again Step.
 
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Thanks for finding that to illustrate and answer my query. I figured it meant it would not be a 'sharp' image but this example is more detailed than I was expecting. I guess from whatever xxxxzillion light years away it's still going to be very, very good. Can't wait. Thanks again Step.
You're welcome PSU73,
This is from a snakes view......I wonder if the image from the telescope may even be more refined.
 
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The distance of this telescope from Earth is, at least to me, one of the most intriguing aspects of it. 1.2 million miles! (I believe the moon is 234,000 miles from earth, so this telescope will be more than five times farther away.)

I have no idea what the "second Lagrange point" means, and was curious concerning the statement that the telescope will be maintained "in a stationary position," so I consulted the FAQ list that someone posted. A quick review of that FAQ list did not appear to provide an answer concerning the Lagrange point, but the answer to a question concerning the life of this project DID answer the question concerning its location.

The FAQ answer stated that the project has an estimated life of 5 to 10 years, which is largely governed by the amount of fuel on board to provide propulsion to the vehicle containing the telescope. This propulsion is apparently necessary to maintain the telescope "in orbit." I have to assume they are talking about an orbit of the Earth. Which also makes me wonder how much gravitational pull the Earth has on an object that is 1.2 million miles distant.
Hopefully everything operates properly because at that distance they won't be able to make repairs like they did with Hubble.
 
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French Guiana? I wonder why that launch site was chosen.
I looked it up:
  • It is near the equator, so that less energy is required to maneuver a spacecraft into an equatorial, geostationary orbit.
  • It has open sea to the east, so that lower stages of rockets and debris from launch failures are unlikely to fall on human habitations. Rockets launch to the east to take advantage of the angular momentum provided by Earth's rotation.
 
I looked it up:
  • It is near the equator, so that less energy is required to maneuver a spacecraft into an equatorial, geostationary orbit.
  • It has open sea to the east, so that lower stages of rockets and debris from launch failures are unlikely to fall on human habitations. Rockets launch to the east to take advantage of the angular momentum provided by Earth's rotation.

I understand that, but NASA doesn't launch from there. I looked it up, the Arienne 5 rocket is nothing special from a lift capacity standpoint, and according to Musk rocket fuel is a negligible cost for a launch. Also, while bulky the satellite only weighs 6 tons (the ESA website was much richer in detail than NASA). I wonder if the Europeans are picking up the tab or at least a significant portion of it for the launch. I couldn't find anything on why French Guiana vs. other NASA sites, but I did find this on its name:

 
I understand that, but NASA doesn't launch from there. I looked it up, the Arienne 5 rocket is nothing special from a lift capacity standpoint, and according to Musk rocket fuel is a negligible cost for a launch. Also, while bulky the satellite only weighs 6 tons (the ESA website was much richer in detail than NASA). I wonder if the Europeans are picking up the tab or at least a significant portion of it for the launch. I couldn't find anything on why French Guiana vs. other NASA sites, but I did find this on its name:

I believe the Arienne is one of the most reliable rockets in use. Probably one of the factors involved.
 
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