Poll of the Day > First James Webb image released

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/7/4/AAZslrAADcQe.jpg

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-delivers-deepest-infrared-image-of-universe-yet

• President Joe Biden unveiled this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webbs First Deep Field, during a White House event Monday, July 11
• Webbs image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arms length by someone on the ground and reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of vast universe
• Webbs sharp near-infrared view brought out faint structures in extremely distant galaxies, offering the most detailed view of the early universe to date
• NASA and its partners will release the full series of Webbs first full-color images and data, known as spectra, Tuesday, July 12, during a live NASA TV broadcast

NASAs James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webbs First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.

Thousands of galaxies including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared have appeared in Webbs view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arms length by someone on the ground.

This deep field, taken by Webbs Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescopes deepest fields, which took weeks.

The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webbs NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies masses, ages, histories, and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe.

This image is among the telescopes first-full color images. The full suite will be released Tuesday, July 12, beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT, during a live NASA TV broadcast. Learn more about how to watch.

It's crazy to me people can see images like this and believe there's no other intelligent life anywhere in that photo

Especially when you consider this tidbit:

• Webbs image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arms length by someone on the ground and reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of vast universe

absolutely incredible. blows my fuckin mind

DirtBasedSoap posted...

absolutely incredible. blows my fuckin mind

It really is. Thinking about the scope and scale. It's beyond comprehension. I can't wait for the full set. I love space photos!!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/0/5/AAFUswAADcQ9.jpg

zero quest markers, they pointed it at the wrong zone

Excited to see what we'll learn with this thing. It might be capable of detecting life on other worlds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvcqe9KOW0

Crazier thing is that the light hitting the telescope is already thousands or even millions of years old

joemodda posted...

Crazier thing is that the light hitting the telescope is already thousands or even millions of years old

One time my brother speculated that the stars we see in the night sky might have already burnt out, but they're so far away that their light is only now reaching us. Crazy to imagine.

joemodda posted...

Crazier thing is that the light hitting the telescope is already thousands or even millions of years old

Those are rookie numbers

They should take it to the North Pole and point it up so we can make sure nothing falls on us

MabinogiFan posted...

One time my brother speculated that the stars we see in the night sky might have already burnt out, but they're so far away that their light is only now reaching us. Crazy to imagine.

Isn't that literally the truth

yeah lol

some of the stars we see supernovad when dinosaurs walked the earth. some are even older.

The dinosaurs dying out is what killed most of those stars, it was too fucking sad

The universe is so big and dense. It's impossible to calculate just how worthless and insignificant we are. We are less than single celled organisms, We are less than a single neutron in an atom.

To the shtars, Bowen...

To the shtars...

Metalsonic66 posted...

To the shtars, Bowen...

To the shtars...

Stab him again, taking too long to die

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/1/0/AAQwHjAADcaa.jpg

https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

First full gallery of images!

papercup posted...

https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

First full gallery of images!

Was just about to post this! Those nebula photos are incredible

captpackrat posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/1/0/AAQwHjAADcaa.jpg

This is funny to me in particular because my best friend has been nostalgia tripping on remixes of "Welcome to the Jam" or whatever that song is called

https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546902509528162306?t=Nif4lXv4EFwV2xFJCLLh5Q&s=19

El_Marsh posted...

This is funny to me in particular because my best friend has been nostalgia tripping on remixes of "Welcome to the Jam" or whatever that song is called

Something about that song makes it infinitely mashup-able

Metalsonic66 posted...

Something about that song makes it infinitely mashup-able

there's a whole subreddit for that called ComeOnandSlam

https://www.reddit.com/r/comeonandslam/

I could have sworn I saw a picture like this in dark red that had very high contrast between the black background and the red. Ive only been able to find an orange one though.

Jen0125 posted...

It's crazy to me people can see images like this and believe there's no other intelligent life anywhere in that photo

It does, but dinosaurs were on earth for millions if years and never developed space level tech.

And with how small of a period we have spanned I wonder if there was other intelligent life that already rose up and yeeted themselves out of existence.

Jen0125 posted...

It's crazy to me people can see images like this and believe there's no other intelligent life anywhere in that photo

Sheer size alone doesn't equate to a guarantee of life. Especially when other factors (like timespan and the probability of life) come into play.

Even in a near-infinite universe, if the odds of life ever evolving are infinitesimally small, the end result can be the two variables counterbalancing each other so the final result is fairly close to 1 (or even lower). Until we know how probable the evolution of life is (and we currently have no realistic means of ever knowing that, because all of our knowledge is based on a single case study).

It's entirely possible that we shouldn't even exist.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Sheer size alone doesn't equate to a guarantee of life. Especially when other factors (like timespan and the probability of life) come into play.

Even in a near-infinite universe, if the odds of life ever evolving are infinitesimally small, the end result can be the two variables counterbalancing each other so the final result is fairly close to 1 (or even lower). Until we know how probable the evolution of life is (and we currently have no realistic means of ever knowing that, because all of our knowledge is based on a single case study).

It's entirely possible that we shouldn't even exist.

The ego on this man

Aliens helped build the pyramids and shit yo

Random thoughts:
1) I don't know what I was hoping for with Webb, but these pictures are more or less the same as Hubble pictures to me. Sure, further away and better resolution...but I wanted to see an exoplanet or alien or something. :)
2) The odds of anything being one-of-a-kind in a universe of near infinite size are zero. That includes life.
3) However, the fact that we've never seen or detected anything other than ourselves implies that the size of space will prevent us from ever meeting aliens in person. Space is fricken colossal. Insert *but what about UFOs* nonsense here.

Jen0125 posted...

The ego on this man

I'm sorry that you don't understand how math works.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I'm sorry that you don't understand how math works.

The sheer ego of this man

Jen0125 posted...

there's a whole subreddit for that called ComeOnandSlam

https://www.reddit.com/r/comeonandslam/

That's fucking hilarious

captpackrat posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/1/0/AAQwHjAADcaa.jpg

wow these photos are incredible

i love science

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

Three deep five me

wpot posted...

1) I don't know what I was hoping for with Webb, but these pictures are more or less the same as Hubble pictures to me.

Might want to visit the eye doctor, bud

https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/vxk8ri/the_southern_ring_nebula_hubble_vs_james_webb/

The difference is astounding. Not sure how you don't see it, honestly

Far-Queue posted...

Might want to visit the eye doctor, bud

https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/vxk8ri/the_southern_ring_nebula_hubble_vs_james_webb/

The difference is astounding. Not sure how you don't see it, honestly

It's more the second half of my quote. Sure, the resolution is better, but it's doesn't really mean much more to me personally unless I see something that gives me a different understanding of the cosmos. Thus far I don't have that. Unfair expectation, sure, but that's my reaction.

wpot posted...

It's more the second half of my quote. Sure, the resolution is better, but it's doesn't really mean much more to me personally unless I see something that gives me a different understanding of the cosmos. Thus far I don't have that. Unfair expectation, sure, but that's my reaction.

Yeah the photos aren't... For you. They're for scientists. So I agree with your assessment about your expectations.

Realistically, nothing to do with astronomy or space exploration is going to affect you personally unless you're actively working in the field. Even if Webb yields a photo tomorrow of actual aliens having a barbecue on a second Earth <10 light years away, there's zero chance you're going to meet those aliens or visit that planet in your lifetime.

That said, the vast quality difference in images is a critical part of identifying exoplanets. The gallery linked earlier includes a spectroscopic analysis of an exoplanet that reveals water in its atmosphere. Hubble didn't detect water until it had been in operation for 23 years, Webb pulled it off with greater detail in 6 months. Similarly, Hubble took 3 weeks to generate that image of the Southern Ring Nebula, Webb took 12.5 hours (~45 times faster), and that faster data collection makes it much, much easier to find new objects of interest. In pretty much every way, Webb is just plain better at helping us learn more about the universe than Hubble can ever be, which is a huge deal for astronomy.

We are going to get some really cool shots from the JWST. This is just the beginning.

adjl posted...

helping us learn more about the universe

God gave us all the tools to understanding the Universe within ourselves.

adjl posted...

The gallery linked earlier includes a spectroscopic analysis of an exoplanet that reveals water in its atmosphere.

If that was there I missed it: that's the sort of thing I was interested in. Would I be able to understand the images without a scientist interpreting for me? Certainly not...but otherwise the pictures alone are kind of underwhelming for me.

wpot posted...

If that was there I missed it: that's the sort of thing I was interested in. Would I be able to understand the images without a scientist interpreting for me? Certainly not...but otherwise the pictures alone are kind of underwhelming for me.

It is there, but it's WASP-78 b, a gas giant.

wpot posted...

If that was there I missed it: that's the sort of thing I was interested in. Would I be able to understand the images without a scientist interpreting for me? Certainly not...but otherwise the pictures alone are kind of underwhelming for me.

The caption explains it about as well as laypeople need. Basically, different atmospheric components refract different wavelengths of light differently. By studying the wavelength composition of the light passing around observed planets, we can make inferences about what their atmospheres consist of, including identifying water vapour. The Webb telescope's improved resolution is more easily able to do that, thanks to being specifically designed to help identify and analyze exoplanets.

BEERandWEED posted...

God gave us all the tools to understanding the Universe within ourselves.

And then we used those tools to build giant space telescopes to let us gather more data to improve our understanding. Unless, of course, you're actually going to suggest that the naked eye is as capable of understanding the workings of the universe as something like this telescope is, which would of course be absurd.

adjl posted...

Unless, of course, you're actually going to suggest that the naked eye is as capable of understanding the workings of the universe as something like this telescope is, which would of course be absurd.

Introspection is infinitely more valuable than extrospection. The trappings of man are false. Only through God can the Truth be known.

God invented telescopes though