With the release of a new image, the US space agency Nasa has celebrated the first anniversary of the start of the scientific work of the “James Webb” telescope. The image presented on Wednesday shows the so-called Rho Ophiuchi cloud. According to Nasa, it is the closest star-forming region to Earth at a distance of 390 light-years.
Exactly one year earlier, on July 12, 2022, NASA had shown images from the telescope for the first time – images that provided the deepest and most detailed insights into space to date. The very first published image, which NASA says is the “deepest and sharpest infrared view of the universe recorded to date,” was presented at the White House with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden spoke of a “historic day”.
Since then, Nasa has repeatedly published new images from the telescope, inspiring scientists and space fans worldwide. Among other things, there were recordings of the planets Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn as well as galaxies and exoplanets.
After 30 years of development
“James Webb”, the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space, was launched on December 25, 2021 on board an Ariane launch vehicle from the European spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana – after cost explosions and repeated shifts had previously occurred had. The telescope is named after a former NASA boss who led the agency in the space-pivoting 1960s. The space agencies of the USA, Canada and Europe are cooperating on the project.
The “James Webb Space Telescope” (JWST) took around 30 years to develop and ultimately cost around 10 billion dollars (around 8.8 billion euros). It follows the Hubble telescope, which has been in use for more than 30 years. While “Hubble” works in the optical and ultraviolet range, “James Webb” investigates in the near-infrared range.
“James Webb” is to fly around 1.5 million kilometers into space and, among other things, provide new images from the early universe with the help of a 25 square meter mirror. Scientists hope that the recordings will provide insights into the time after the Big Bang around 13.8 billion years ago. They’re hoping for images of stars older than our solar system and perhaps no longer in existence — and possibly even evidence of a second Earth. The lifespan of “James Webb” is initially set at ten years.
