Watch NASA Release the First James Webb Space Telescope Images

[Hans Tucker]

on July 12, NASA will be releasing the first full-fledged images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The JWST team will hold a main event to unveil the telescope's images in real time on Tuesday, July 12, at 7:30 a.m. PT [Australia: July 13, 1:30 a.m. AEDT]

Link to watch the Event

https://youtu.be/21X5lGlDOfg

[Spyrith]

I'm unreasonably hyped for this, it makes me feel like a nerd and I love it.

Any idea if these will be just infrared images, or also infrared images colored in realistic colors?

[Crater101]

Thanks for the link. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see what the James Webb can do.

[EpickCrom]

Thanks for the link Hans, like all of us I will be watching with deep anticipation. This is truly a golden age of Astronomy we are living in :eyepop:

[julianh72]

The first targets have been announced:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-shares-list-of-cosmic-targets-for-webb-telescope-s-first-images

Not long to wait now!

[Saturnine]

No doubt there would be a lot of people that are keenly awaiting the release of these first images, and subsequent releases. The list of images in the first release including Eta Carina as one of them will be eagerly anticipated. Wednesday morning can't come soon enough.
Thanks for the links.

[AdamJL]

Carina :) :)

But I was hoping they'd keep the list to themselves. It would have been nicer to have been surprised.

that said, it's a nice range of targets. I am really interested in the planetary spectrum data. That will be fascinating...

[JA]

Well their sensor/s capture approximately 600nm and longer, so if they opt for natural colours it will be orange/reds/maybe some brownish tinges, otherwise if it's false colour, who knows?

Best
JA

[mura_gadi]

Its like waiting for Christmas as a kid again!

Apparently the POTUS will have a picture release a full day prior to the NASA release. At 5pm Monday, Washington, DC time.(I think) NASA full release to follow on Tuesday at 10:30am as stated.

So, Tomorrow morning sometime after 7am!

"The image, known as "Webb's First Deep Field," will be the deepest and highest-resolution view of the universe ever captured, showing myriad galaxies as they appeared up to 13 billion years in the past, according to NASA."


Steve

"NASA will brief the president and the vice president on Monday, agency officials said, and the first image will be revealed at an event at 5 p.m. ET at the White House"


"After the White House event, NASA will unveil more images in an event streamed live Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET. NASA officials said that batch will include the Webb telescope’s first spectrum of an exoplanet, showing light emitted at different wavelengths from a planet in another star system."

*My understanding is that some of Tuesday pictures will be coloured according to the spectrum results.

[mura_gadi]

Here is a link to the press conference, due to start 7:30 this morning. Includes several other links to NASA/Facebook/YT broadcasts etc.

https://au.pcmag.com/news/95038/watch-live-biden-nasa-reveal-first-james-webb-space-telescope-images

Also looks like we have a list of the objects being released today and tomorrow.
https://au.pcmag.com/news/95004/first-james-webb-telescope-images-to-focus-on-a-planet-nebulae-and-galaxies

[AdamJL]

The first image:

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/main_image_deep_field_smacs0723-5mb.jpg

https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

[mura_gadi]

love the warped out sombrero galaxy...

The first shot shows the equivalent sky of a piece of sand on your finger tip held out at arms length.

[Dave882]

Wonderful view. Gotta love the gravitational lensing effect!!:eyepop:

[Steffen]

I find NASA’s description “Webb’s image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground” a bit odd, TBH. What’s that in arc seconds, I wonder? Sand comes in all sorts of grain sizes, not to mention arms…

[Stonius]

There's a lot of gravitational lensing going on. Other than that it looks a lot like. Hubble deep-field. Come to think of it, why do we see more lensing here than in the HDF?

Markus

[alpal]

Wow - what a great image.
It is hard to know how good it is unless compared with a previous image.
I assume these old images are from Hubble?
https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/relics/color_images/smacs0723-73.html

It's obviously much better than the images above.

I would like to know a lot more about it:
Which colours were mapped to which infrared wavelengths?
How many exposures?
What was the length of time of each exposure?

It's a pity that JWST uses a triple armed cradle to hold the secondary
as the six main diffraction spikes - and many more - it makes are annoying.



cheers
Allan

[astro744]

My first thought was that the camera back focus was incorrectly set but the outer stars are good. See https://optcorp.com/blogs/deep-sky-imaging/how-to-set-the-correct-back-focus#:~:text=If%20you%20don%27t%20 space,%2Daxis)%20in%20the%20image.

Perhaps its the grain of sand in the image plane causing the strong lensing effect. ;)

Lots of galaxies to see there! Well done, Webb!

[Stonius]

To answer my own question, I'm assuming this is a narrower and deeper field of view than the Hubble deep field. So galaxies are more closely aligned and the light is travelling farther with more opportunity to 'get bent' as it were.

Edit - just found out it's due to a foreground galaxy cluster, hence the radial pattern

Markus

[middy]

You can see what colours were mapped to what filter here....

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/038/01G7JJTZJTA8BY731JS2S7P5SZ?news=tru e

[Startrek]

Incredible image !
Looking forward to see many more images from the JWT
However at this early stage I still prefer observing that Hubble image from 2004, just something about it that gives you a wider perspective on the universe

[alpal]

OK thanks and the filters are explained here:
https://jwst-docs.stsci.edu/jwst-near-infrared-camera/nircam-instrumentation/nircam-filters


Also - exposure time:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62122859

Hubble used to stare at the sky for weeks on end to produce this kind of result.
Webb identified its super-deep objects after only 12.5 hours of observations.


Also - I checked out the RA and DEC on Stellarium
but it didn't come up with anything I could identify.

R.A. Position 07:23:19.5 Dec. Position -73:27:15.6

[Crater101]

A good point, and I agree with you. However, I get the impression that the description was pitched at the general public to try and give people a broad sense of the capability of the Webb.


In any event...I'm impressed with what the Webb can do! :astron: I look forward to seeing many more images from the Webb. We live in an exciting time.

[julianh72]

There's a nice comparison of Hubble Deep Field vs Webb First Deep Field here:
https://petapixel.com/2022/07/11/comparing-hubble-to-james-webb-the-difference-in-detail-is-astounding/

The additional detail and resolution is astounding!

[alpal]

Thanks the .gif file is great:
https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/07/james-webb-vs-hubble-3.gif

[EpickCrom]

Amazing resolution from Webb! Can't wait for more images :eyepop:

[rustigsmed]

well i didn't see the other link and have created my own gif - a bit of a cropped view https://www.astrobin.com/full/ehxdp3/0/

blue channel in hubble is quite noisey :lol:

[graham.hobart]

Hi Russell can I share that please ?

[rustigsmed]

absolutely

also one a lot more zoomed in https://www.astrobin.com/full/lwwytw/0/ which i think is a bit more interesting :thumbsup:

[alpal]

Wow - there is so much more resolution.

[alpal]

I stayed up late to watch the first images. :)



They are here on flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/with/52211883534/


They are magnificent pictures:
I especially like part of Eta Carinae shown here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52211883534/in/datetaken/


And Stephan’s Quintet:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52210580092/in/datetaken/




cheers
Allan

[Sunfish]

Magnificent indeed. Remarkable images of previously hidden details.

[AdamJL]

Awesome images. Love that planet spectrum data!

[strongmanmike]

Sheesh!...some years ago I did a fun comparison with HST (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/154789844/original), just to see what features I had nabbed in my data, of almost this exact section of Gabby...the JW result is totally mind blowing! :eyepop:

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Spectra of a galaxy over 13 Billion lights years away?? I mean reeeally?? Maama Mia! (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52211834869/in/datetaken/) :eyepop:

Heck this is good promotional stuff! Gooooo Webb! :D

Mike

[strongmanmike]

I think JWST is trolling me (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/165020256/original) :scared2: there are very few example images that show the outer shells of NGC 3132.

But man! Look at the level of detail in the JWST version (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52212049510/in/datetaken/)! (make sure you click on the image twice) iiiiiiiincedible! :eyepop:

Mike

[Crater101]

What he said....INCREDIBLE images!

[alpal]

Thanks Mike,
can you point out on a larger version of Eta Carinae where
that shot is take from please?


cheers
Allan

[multiweb]

Gabriella mistral nose

[alpal]

You're right!
https://astronomy.com/magazine/weirdest-objects/2015/01/48-ncg-3324

No wonder I couldn't find it.
I was looking at close to the Keyhole Nebula.
Why didn't they say that it was Gabriela Mistral nebula in Eta Carinae ?


cheers
Allan

[strongmanmike]

Here ya go Big Al :thumbsup:

[alpal]

Thanks Mike - I can see it now.

[alpal]

I made a .gif animation file comparing the Gabriela Mistral picture
from Hubble to the JWST.


https://i.ibb.co/t3kBfTg/Gabriela-Mistral-JWST-versus-Hubble.gif



The JWST is so much better -
it's taken the image to another level.


cheers
Allan

[Sunfish]

That is great . Well done.

[Steffen]

Trending now in Algeria: Image of the Carina Nebula from James Webb space telescope matching the eastern coast of Algeria :lol:

292913

[alpal]

If we get back to the first image of all those galaxies with the gravitational lens:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52210366419/in/datetaken/

I'd like to know if they can identify what has made those Einstein rings?
We know they are galaxies but what type?
They couldn't be from spiral galaxies as they are so old there shouldn't have been any such galaxies then,
They must have been very early irregular galaxies that have been smeared out into rings?
Could some of them be Quasars?


cheers
Allan

[alpal]

The diffraction spikes are well explained here:
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/james-webb-spikes/


Still - I don't know why they used triple struts to hold the secondary mirror
instead of the 4 struts as Hubble used?
The triple struts are creating more diffraction spikes.

[Spidy]

Weight?

[Sunfish]

If they are the curved elements you mean , I think I read on the NASA web site some form part of a circular galaxy and the showed this by identical spectra.

[alpal]

This article says - (about 1/4 of the way down the many pages) -

that one of those galaxies is a spiral type and it's image is also repeated:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-14/tour-through-nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-images/101231818

[Sunfish]

Ah yes . I probably saw that there and more detailed information is more clearly
set out at ESA:

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/07/Webb_spectra_confirm_two_arcs_are_t he_same_galaxy#:~:text=The%20graphs %2C%20known%20as%20spectra,are%20on e%20and%20the%20same.

[alpal]

Thanks for that link.
It looks like it will take quite a while to find out
exactly what that image is telling us.

[alpal]

Looks like I have an answer from another forum.


If you look at this picture from the link above here:

https://bigthink.com...8ZPX0AIB-Ho.png (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FOFC8ZPX0AIB-Ho.png)

The Hexagon mirrors are already giving 6 strange spikes with multiple copies
of the hexagon shape of the many mirrors.
The struts they use are overlapping that pattern.

[rustigsmed]

perhaps it will bring in a trend to image with your bahtinov mask on :lol:

[alpal]

Now everyone wants JWST diffraction spikes.
They will add whatever mask to achieve them. :lol:

[alpal]

This is a great video which answered many of my questions from - Scott Manley:

New Space Telescope Images Show That It's a Game Changer - JWST Reveals First Images

274,377 views Jul 15, 2022

My take on the images released by the JWST earlier this week,
a whole new level of detail is now possible with this new instrument.
Moreover, I wanted to answer some questions about what we're seeing in the images,
and, why the stars have 8 points while Hubble images only show 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FWO1Pvbhq4

[alpal]

I looked back on some old data from 2014.
This was a tiny crop taken out of the picture with an 8" Newt and my QHY-9 mono
in RGBL and Ha.
It looks awful but that's all there is of a similar field of view.

This was the full frame with a different processing:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/12867478303/in/photostream

[julianh72]

At the risk of stating the obvious to the community (many of whom I am sure already know this), I thought I would let people know that you can download ALL of the JWST raw scientific imagery and data free of charge from the MAST Portal (Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes), and then play with it to your heart's content. (Maybe you'll discover something knew to science in the gigabytes of JWST data as it is uploaded and shared?) Note that the data from a whole bunch of space telescopes, including Hubble, TESS, etc is available from the MAST Portal, not just JWST.


Create an account on the "My Space Telescope" website https://proper.stsci.edu/proper/authentication/auth (I'm not sure if this step is strictly necessary, but it seemed to be necessary on my computer to activate the "Download Manager" on the MAST Portal)
Go to the MAST Portal https://mast.stsci.edu/portal/Mashup/Clients/Mast/Portal.html - it should log you in automatically using your MyST credentials
Filter for the target you are interested in, and the space telescope that captured the data you want to inspect - e.g. enter "WASP 96-B" into the search bar, and then after it loads up the available data list, check the "JWST" filter to just see the Webb data
Select the dataset(s) you want to download (by instrument and filter, etc) and "Add to Download Basket" - I would strongly suggest that you do NOT just click "Download" - you might have selected literally hundreds of gigabytes of data!
View your "Download Basket", and filter it to get a manageable set of files to download (FITS image files, CSV tabular data, etc)
Press "Download", and when your download has completed, "Extract" all files into suitable User folders
Enjoy!


There's a User Guide to the MAST Portal here: https://outerspace.stsci.edu/display/MASTDOCS/Portal+Guide

[rustigsmed]

hi guys - i downloaded some of the calibration stuff from Webb - they were testing the scope's ability to track objects which move.

was hoping there were more of jupiter in there (there are few more but not of the whole planet (some sneaking in view or featureless due to the filter).

nice to see NASA deal with some internal reflections too :lol:

Cheers

Russ :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Cool to see Jupiter's ring too Russ :thumbsup:

Mike

[Dave882]

Very cool thanks for sharing

[rustigsmed]

ahh yes thanks Mike I forgot to mention the rings pop out when stretched - which is very cool / rare to see :thumbsup: