Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the start of science operations of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most powerful space-based astronomical observatory ever launched. It is jointly operated by NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) and has, over the past year, already provided countless insights into the natural world, from inside the Solar System to the farthest reaches of the Universe.
The first anniversary of JWST was celebrated with the release of new data of the star-forming region Rho Ophiuchi. It is the nearest such cloud complex to Earth, about 390 light years away by the most recent estimates (a mere 3.7 million billion kilometers or 2.3 million billion miles), and one of the most studied. The image from the telescope shows about 50 very young stars, all 1 million years old or less (compared to our Sun’s age of 4.6 billion years), all of which are about the mass of the Sun.
Rho Ophiuchi is a relatively small stellar nursery located only 390 light years from Earth. The cloud complex has been studied numerous times because of its proximity and the fact that all the stars are very young, 1 million years old or less, providing insight into the properties of our own Solar System when it was forming more than 4.6 billion years ago. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI)
Many of the objects imaged are known as T Tauri stars, which shine not as a result of nuclear fusion in their core, but because of the radiation powered by the gravitational contraction of the star which is steadily shrinking. After about 100 million years, they will have shrunk enough to raise the temperature in their core to the level where nuclear fusion from hydrogen to helium will commence, beginning their life as a main sequence star, the stable mature form in which the star will spend most of its life.
The dark areas are thick clouds of dust, so dense that not even the specialized instruments of JWST can capture light emitted from inside them. The large red streams, sometimes called Dark River clouds or Rho Ophiuchi Streamers, consist of molecular hydrogen and are often formed when a newborn star finally emits enough radiation to fling off its natal cocoon of dust and send out jets of material into deep space.
Some of the stars in the image also have signs of protoplanetary disks, potential future planetary systems still being formed.
The latest image from JWST reaffirms what a group of NASA, ESA and CSA researchers said last year when the telescope was fully commissioned, that “almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected.”
Data from the JWST instruments NIRCAM and MIRI were combined to study the protoplanetary system around the star d203-506 revealing the presence of the molecule methyl cation, which is theorized to play a key role in the construction of complex organic molecules. Credits: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), the PDRs4All ERS Team
Another recently imaged protoplanetary disk, that surrounding the star d203–506 in the Orion Nebula, was recently confirmed using JWST data to have the molecule methyl cation (CH₃⁺). While CH₃⁺ was first predicted to be involved in interstellar chemistry in the 1970s, it was only first detected using the telescope’s MIRI and NIRCam instruments. Initial results were released at the end of June.
Carbon compounds are carefully studied because they form the basis for all known life, and CH₃⁺ is particularly important because it does not react with hydrogen, which is most of the visible universe, but does react with a wide range of other molecules, indicating it could be a catalyst for the emergence of other molecules and more complex structures, such as amino acids and proteins, and ultimately the emergence of organic life.
The analysis of CH₃⁺ also provides insight into the contradictory nature of ultraviolet light in the formation of planetary systems. Those wavelengths of light are known to be very destructive when they interact with organic molecules (which is why too much sunlight, part of which is in the ultraviolet spectrum, produces sunburns and, in extreme cases, skin cancer). Ultraviolet light is however also known to scour young planetary systems, including our own. The current research sheds light on the contradictory nature of ultraviolet light being detrimental to existing organic molecules, but also necessary to form the building blocks to make those molecules in the first place.
The lead investigator of this study, Olivier Berné of the University of Toulouse, France, elaborates, “This clearly shows that ultraviolet radiation can completely change the chemistry of a protoplanetary disc. It might actually play a critical role in the early chemical stages of the origins of life by helping to produce CH₃⁺—something that has perhaps previously been underestimated.”
Abell 2744 has been studied by Hubble in the past, but never with the breadth and depth produced by the JWST. Each object in the photo is a galaxy, with light having traveled across the Universe to Earth for between 350 million years and more than 13 billion years. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ivo Labbe (Swinburne), Rachel Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
JWST has also continued to study distant galactic clusters. In February, the telescope was used to take a deep field of Abell 2744 (nicknamed Pandora’s cluster), which involved a total of 30 hours of observing time with the NIRCam instrument. The cluster itself is made up of at least four separate galactic clusters that initially collided some 350 million years ago, and have since produced a whole host of exotic phenomena that astronomers are still trying to uncover.
Similar to other galactic clusters, the colossal gravity of Abell 2744 also acts as a lens for the light of other, even more distant objects that are behind Abell 2744 relative to Earth. In total, JWST imaged more than 50,000 sources of infrared light at once, all of them either galaxies or galactic clusters from far back in cosmic history. There are at least two candidates from which light has traveled for more than 13 billion years (in astronomical terms, a redshift greater than 10) before being collected by JWST, providing insight into galactic formation in the earliest epoch of the Universe.
Earth’s planetary neighbors in the outer Solar System have also been studied by JWST. During its commissioning, the telescope observed Jupiter and its moons Europa, Thebe and Metis to test its capabilities to track moving targets. Another imaging campaign of the Jovian system was undertaken, this time including the moons Amalthea and Adrastea, as well as Jupiter’s rings and aurora.
A composite of infrared images of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune taken by the JWST, all of which reveal new properties about the planets of the outer Solar System. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
The observatory has also produced the most high-resolution infrared images of Uranus and Neptune, which have been intermittently observed by Hubble and ground-based observatories for years, and only visited once each for close inspection by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986 and 1989, respectively. As JWST is viewing both in infrared light, it has provided new information about the structure of each planet’s ring system and the respective atmospheric dynamics.
The most recently released image from the outer Solar System was of Saturn, in late June. In contrast to the bright hues of images taken by the Cassini spacecraft, JWST in infrared sees Saturn as extremely dark, surrounded by extraordinarily bright icy rings. Some of the more interesting discoveries include the dark clouds in the planet’s northern hemisphere, which may be the result of planet-scale waves in Saturn’s atmosphere, a phenomenon not seen before.
A treasure trove of even more data has been collected over the first year of JWST’s operation, much of which is summarized in various press reports by the European Space Agency. It is to the immense credit of the tens of thousands who operate the telescope and process the data that so much has been achieved in so little time. Each new image provides further insight for humanity’s understanding of the natural world and our place within it. We eagerly await further discoveries.
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.
