"James Webb" accidentally created the deepest image of the sky in infrared

Researchers from the Canadian Space Agency transmitted back to Earth images obtained

auxiliary instrument of the telescope. A breathtaking image of space was needed solely to target the James Webb.

FGS is used for precise guidance of scientifictelescope instruments. He can take pictures, but these are service photos that control the James Webb instruments. FGS-captured images are usually not saved. This decision was made in order not to overload the limited communication channel between the Earth and the Lagrange point (L2) with third-party data.

Image taken by FGS. Source: NASA, CSA, FGS team

The published picture was taken in early May duringtelescope stability test time. The FGS used this data to point the NIRCam infrared camera at the star HD147980. Since there was bandwidth available at that point, the researchers decided to store and transmit the service data to Earth.

The resulting image has roughness,as it has not been optimized for scientific observation. Also, when the FGS aperture is open, it does not use color filters like other scientific instruments, which means it is not possible to study the age of the galaxies in this image.

This image represents 32 hours of exposure.Observations have not been optimized to detect faint objects, but the camera captures them nonetheless. This image is the deepest image of the sky in infrared light, scientists say. Exceptional sensitivity is due to the fixation of all waves with a length of 0.6 to 5 microns.

It remains until the full launch of the telescopeменьше недели. Ранее НАСА и ЕКА объявили о том, что первые профессиональные снимки «Джеймс Уэбб» будут представлены в прямом эфире 12 июля в 17:30 по московскому времени.

Cover image: NASA, STScI

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