I don't begin to understand the science behind this - I last studied any Physics in 1960 - but I read that it is an extraordinary feat of engineering which will allow the scientists to 'see' back to the origins of the universe. My attempt at reading the Wiki article (to be resumed anon) has not taken me much further than that; but it seems an achievement that should be honoured.
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Originally posted by kernelbogey View Post
Here is one of the first high resolution images.
This apparently represents an area of sky about the size of a grain of sand held at arms length!
A quick run down - about a hundred years ago there was even controversy about galaxies - whether there is/was anything outside our own Milky Way.
Once that was knocked out, so that external galaxies were considered "real", several astronomers researched them - how many there are, how far away they are etc.
Hubble's graphs based on observations and red shift showed that [on average] distant galaxies are moving away faster than nearer ones.
This led to the big bang theory - though it's not what many people might assume - and it's probably still not really understood well. If there were a massive explosion at some point and time, then that point would be special.
Instead it looks as though distant objects are receding from anywhere at the same kinds of rates. One "solution" to the conundrums that this poses is that space and time didn't exist before this event.
By plotting Hubble's lines backwards, a time since the Big Bang event can be estimated at about 13.8 billion years.
Besides Hubble's observations and other related ones, other evidence for a cosmic event are the discovery of cosmic background radiation CMB in 1964.
We now believe, and have evidence for, a huge number of galaxies, many containing very many stars. Images like this one show many galaxies, and most are very distant. Individual stars are not shown - or at least only as parts of galaxies.
Anyway, enjoy the pictures. You should be able to spot the nice spiral galaxy. -
Thanks Dave - I had a hunch you might be an early poster here.
I find the whole concept almost beyond my capacity to comprehend it.
A few years ago some friends and I did the Earth as a Peppercorn or The Thousand Step Model exercise: we paced out the intervals between the sun and all the planets, on a beach, the scale taken from the earth the size of a peppercorn; the sun was a balloon inflated to a specific size in scale. By the time we got to the orbit of Pluto we could barely see the balloon. It was a remarkable experiential exercise. On the same scale, the edge of the solar system, defined as half the distance to the nearest star, was... Moscow!
So imagining the scale of what JWST is revealing is... a challenge!Comment
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Here's an update with more pictures from the NY Times. Not sure if you can see it - the pictures are great.
If that doesn't work for you, there's bound to be another web site hosting the images soon.Comment
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I'm with Kernelbogey here. As Alice may or may not have said, "Extraordinary and even more extraordinary" -- the leaps in understanding of our universe and the frankly incomprehensible (at least to my meagre intellect) revelations of the cosmos and its implausible menagerie during my lifetime -- microwave background radiation, quasars, pulsars, black holes, dark matter, dark energy & gravitiational waves -- perpetual wonderment mixed with regret that I won't live to see mankind unravel the ultimate secrets of the universe, if in fact that is possible...Comment
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The pictures are magical. Like something from a 70s underground fantasy magazine made real. Truly awe-inspiring.Comment
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James Webb telescope: a scientist explains what its first, amazing images show – and how it will change astronomy
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Mind-boggling.
The comparisons that are emerging between the new Webb images and older Hubble equivalents are astonishing, too
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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The Webb telescope is clearly a magnificent step forward. However on Monday night there was an episode of Horizon (no doubt a repeat) relating the whole story of Hubble, including its problems, astronaut fatalities, and incredible successes.
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Yes it was very goodOriginally posted by ardcarp View Post"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Almost unbelievable…Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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The Big Bang theory seems to be widely accepted these days. However, those who remember Fred Hoyle will know that he championed the Steady State theory, i.e. that the universe (whatever that might be) is in a state of continuous creation and always has been. It is a difficult concept for the collective (and inevitably limited) human mind to grasp. But if the Universe is infinite, why should its creation be anything but infinite in a backwards sort of way.
Am I talking rubbish?Comment
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but where was the clock that signalled the start positioned before the Universe began ?Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
- it's bad enough being asked to believe that an old man in the clouds set things off but to have a clock as well ?Comment
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But there wasn't one! That's such a difficult concept to grasp...and maybe we shouldn't try. One could just as easily ask what happened to time before the Big Bang??? As for the Old Man in the Clouds...well I enjoyed listening to Choral Evensong today.but where was the clock that signalled the start positioned before the Universe began ?
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Documentary about the new space telescope coming up on BBC2 at 8pm:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00197px"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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