The James Webb Space Telescope's four science instruments are all aligned, as shown in a prior engineering image of the observatory's complete field of view. We'll look at the same image again, this time concentrating on Webb's coldest device, the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI.
Part of the Large Magellanic Cloud is seen in the MIRI test picture (at 7.7 microns). This tiny satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, roughly 160,000 light-years distant, offers a dense starfield to put Webb's capabilities to the test.
A close-up of the MIRI image is contrasted to a previous image of the same subject captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (at 8.0 microns). Spitzer is one of NASA's Great Observatories, it was the first to give high-resolution photographs of the universe's near- and mid-infrared regions at the time. Now Webb, with its much larger main mirror and upgraded detectors, will let us observe the infrared sky with greater clarity, allowing us to make many more discoveries.
Webb's MIRI picture, for example, reveals interstellar gas in remarkable depth. The emission from "polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons," or carbon and hydrogen molecules that play a key role in the thermal balance and chemistry of interstellar gas, may be seen here.
When Webb is ready to undertake scientific observations, collaborations like this one with MIRI will assist astronomers to gain new insights into the formation of stars and protoplanetary systems.
The eagerly awaited new images will be of astrophysics objectives that are essential to expanding humanity's understanding of the cosmos. These images will be recorded in infrared and colourized for public use.
The essential lesson from Spitzer, Hubble and other space Telescopes is that there is an interesting science that cannot be planned for, the unknown unknowns.
Narrated by:
Max Culina
Music:
Don't Leave Me Here - Eight Bits
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