TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The James Webb Space Telescope is the star of the science world sending back sharp images from deeper in space than we’ve ever seen before. Early pictures from the telescope were just used to adjust it. Now there are new pictures that show the telescope’s real power and the University of Arizona helped make them happen.
Early pictures from the Webb Space Telescope are essentially baby pictures of our universe from light that left those stars and galaxies 13.1 billion years ago.
“It’s…It’s awe inspiring, it’s jaw dropping, you know,” says Kevin Hainline of UArizona’s Steward Observatory. He’s amazed at the images coming back from the Webb Space Telescope even though he’s part of the team of University of Arizona Astronomers who helped make them possible.
A UArizona team led by Dr. Marcia Rieke,designed the NIRcam, one of the telescope's main cameras. The Webb is designed to gather infrared light. Our eyes can’t see infrared so the pictures are adjusted to be visible but still scientifically accurate.
Infrared cuts through dust in space and reveals features of stars and galaxies we couldn’t see any other way.
SEE MORE PICTURES FROM THE WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
Hainline says, “So we're seeing it only a number of 100 million years after the Big Bang, really a very, very young, very pristine galaxy. And that's just that's just the one that they happen to show in the image. Once scientists get the data and can actually look at it a little bit more carefully. I'm sure we're going to find even farther galaxies.”
Hainline says UArizona has 30 or 40 scientists working on the telescope, and since the University helped develop key parts of the Webb, scientists there get guaranteed time on the scope to see what new secrets it will reveal.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
