Stars being born and galaxies in a dance.
The transport of light back through billions of years.
Glimpses of black holes inside faraway constellations.
And, a look inside the Cartwheel Galaxy that shows the details of star formation.
The images being shared by NASA from the revolutionary technology of the James Webb Space Telescope are cause for wonder and delight — not words we use very often in news coverage.
“Every image is a new discovery and each will give humanity a view of the humanity that we’ve never seen before,’’ NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in displaying the first round of images in July. The first images had scientists “rhapsodizing over images showing the formation of stars, devouring black holes,” wrote Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein.
When was the last time you read the word “rhapsodizing” in a news story? Or, saw a news photo described as a “foamy blue and orange shot of a dying star”?
The story of the telescope itself is a marvel — 10 years and $10 billion in the making, launched on Christmas Day 2021 to set up shop in space 1 million miles from Earth. After finding its spot, scientists began the lengthy process to align mirrors, get the infrared detectors cold enough to operate and calibrate instruments, the telescope protected by a sunshade the size of a tennis court, AP reported. The intricacies required for Webb to produce results left no room for error.
The first images received July 11 included Stephan’s Quintet, five galaxies in a cosmic dance that was first seen 225 years ago in the constellation Pegasus. It includes a black hole that scientists said showed material “swallowed by this sort of cosmic monster.” Webb “has just given us a new, unprecedented 290 million-year-old view of what this Quintet is up to,” Cornell University astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger, who wasn’t part of the Webb team, said in an email.
Last week, we were treated to more images this time of the Cartwheel Galaxy in a constellation of stars about 500 million light-years away. Its appearance, much like that of the wheel of a wagon, is the result of a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy, according to NASA.
“It’s the beauty but also the story,” NASA senior Webb scientist John Mather, a Nobel laureate, said. “It’s the story of where did we come from.”
And, he said, the more he looked at the images, the more he became convinced that life exists elsewhere in those thousands of stars and hundreds of galaxies.
With Webb, scientists hope to glimpse light from the first stars and galaxies that formed 13.7 billion years ago, just 100 million years from the universe-creating Big Bang. The telescope also will scan the atmospheres of alien worlds for possible signs of life.
Webb’s images from outer, outer space come at a time when scenes from the war in Ukraine, shooting of children in elementary schools and gun violence in our cities sears our consciousness. Divisiveness and anger define our government, media and schools.
But the spectacular feat of astronomy producing views of the universe is unifying. These images are the humbling reminder that this planet we occupy is but a grain of sand in the cosmos. The vastness reminds us that our petty arguments and damage wrought by ego, greed, and powerlust mean little when compared to stars being born and galaxies doing pirouettes.
Webb reminds us to be humble, to remember that we are part of one humanity. This look into space is bedazzling, a joy to behold, and a lesson in the largeness of universe. We don’t know if we’re in this alone, but we know we’re in it together. Maybe we should act like it.
Source: Berkshire mont
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