NASA’s ambitious $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope launched from the European Space Agency’s Arianespace ELA-3 launch complex and began its journey to outer space in late December 2021. After traveling over 1 million miles since its initial launch, the James Webb Space Telescope reached L2, the second sun-Earth Lagrange point, on Jan. 24.
Lagrange points, in solar system exploration, are defined as “positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put.” With its arrival to L2, the telescope will remain in place due to gravitational stability and close proximity to both Earth and the sun. In this setting, it will also be able to orbit the sun, from a million miles away, at the same pace of Earth’s own orbit.
As a project initiated by NASA, the telescope has since become a hallmark international collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). NASA is responsible for the Webb mission, taking note of photos, statistics and other areas of progress of the telescope on a daily basis. The ESA has provided the near infrared spectrograph, mid-infrared instrument optics assembly and Ariane launch vehicle for the project while the CSA has provided equipment, such as the fine guidance sensor/near infrared imager and slitless spectrograph.
With the legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope’s mission hopes to build upon the findings of Hubble with revolutionized imaging capabilities. However, the biggest difference between the two powerful machines lies in the type of light they can absorb.
Since the James Webb Space Telescope will be farther away from Earth than Hubble, the light the Webb telescope will come into contact with is more red shifted and is classified as infrared light. With four instruments to absorb such light, the telescope will be able to capture clear images of galaxies that encompass hidden stars and planets that emit infrared light. Through its folding telescope design, the tennis-court size sunshield will provide necessary protection from heat and light from the sun on one side while the 21.3 feet segmented mirror captures infrared light on the other side.
With its longer wavelength coverage and improved sensitivity capacity, the purpose of the telescope’s mission can be described and divided into four categories: first light and reionization, an observation on the assembly of galaxies, the birth of stars and protoplanetary systems, and the origins of life.
Oftentimes, telescopes are described as time machines because they can observe events from the past. Based on the distance of the object or system that is being studied, a telescope can display how those systems became what they are today. Since the farthest stars and galaxies have high redshifts that are only able to be seen through the near and mid-infrared light component of the electromagnetic spectrum, the James Webb Space Telescope will aid astronomers in understanding how the first stars and galaxies were formed over a billion years ago.
As our solar system continues to develop, the telescope will also provide more information on other planetary systems within the universe that are being born today. With the progression of space and life exploration on planets like Mars, the telescope will aim to continue researching the possible building blocks of life in other parts of our universe as well.
At UCI, professors like Dr. Asantha Cooray, who teaches physics and astronomy for the School of Physical Sciences, are fueling the field of infrared astronomy with more knowledge and research findings on the subject altogether.
In comparison, the James Webb Space Telescope is estimated to last a minimum of five years in space. Due to its successful launch in which the Ariane five rocket saved onboard fuel, NASA believes it has the ability to remain in orbit for more than 10 years. Its first images are expected to be generated by the summer of 2022.
To read more about the science tools encompassing the telescope, how it works in space and receive updates through its mission timeline, visit the James Webb Space Telescope website.
Korintia Espinoza is a STEM staff writer for the winter 2022 quarter. She can be reached at korintie@uci.edu.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
