from the somethin'-due-any-day-I-will-know-right-away,-soon-as-it-shows dept.
Webb Telescope will release its first full-color images and spectroscopic data on July 12, 2022:
As the largest and most complex observatory ever launched into space, Webb has been going through a six-month period of preparation before it can begin science work, calibrating its instruments to its space environment and aligning its mirrors. This careful process, not to mention years of new technology development and mission planning, has built up to the first images and data: a demonstration of Webb at its full power, ready to begin its science mission and unfold the infrared universe.
[...] Deciding what Webb should look at first has been a project more than five years in the making, undertaken by an international partnership between NASA, ESA, CSA, and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, home to Webb's science and mission operations.
"Our goals for Webb's first images and data are both to showcase the telescope's powerful instruments and to preview the science mission to come," said astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist at STScI. "They are sure to deliver a long-awaited 'wow' for astronomers and the public."
[...] While careful planning for Webb's first full-color images has been underway for a long time, the new telescope is so powerful that it is difficult to predict exactly how the first images will look. "Of course, there are things we are expecting and hoping to see, but with a new telescope and this new high-resolution infrared data, we just won't know until we see it," said STScI's lead science visuals developer Joseph DePasquale.
[...] After capturing its first images, Webb's scientific observations will begin, continuing to explore the mission's key science themes. Teams have already applied through a competitive process for time to use the telescope, in what astronomers call its first "cycle," or first year of observations. Observations are carefully scheduled to make the most efficient use of the telescope's time.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @01:35AM
Just bring us big fat mega resolution pics.
My suggestion is to "enhance" it with CGI featuring llingons and Borgs being eaten by Cthulu. NASA will hit a jackpot payday with all the extra tax money pouring in = "Armstrong who?"
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 07 2022, @01:46AM (2 children)
Reads like an Apple phanboi story - 'We may soon have photographs of the newest iPhone soon!' 'Leaked information says the next iPhone will a petapixel camera!' 'Steve Jobs expected to return for the next Apple press release!'
Don't like me picking on Apple? Alright, how about 'Linux expected to get native NTFS support with the newest kernel!' 'Microsoft promises more privacy with Win12 telemetry!'
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday June 07 2022, @02:31AM (1 child)
Hmm no. There is a difference: Webb's insane unit price is justified. The hype is genuine in this case.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by HsunTzu on Tuesday June 07 2022, @06:49AM
Roscoe is usually correct, and in this case, moreso.
(Score: -1, Troll) by HsunTzu on Tuesday June 07 2022, @06:36AM
Not a lot of astrophyscists on SoylentNews, after the purging of the famed aristarchus. Now we are left with comments by rednecked hillbilly Trump supporters like Runaway, and they are not good.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @10:42AM (4 children)
Well don`t get too horny, cause the first images for exo planets are of dead ones.
Not sure the logic there, maybe to create a base metric for comparisons?
But ya, a month away, is not soon.
Are we going to have stories with an inverse logarithmic time based release cycle as we approach, "soon"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @12:12PM (1 child)
Which ones are the not-dead exoplanets?
These were chosen because there was a proposal call for telescope time during this first phase, and these are the first two that are from that queue. I don't know if there was any shuffling or prioritizing them, or if these were chosen first because they would be considered "easier" to acquire, which would be nice for your first acquisitions. There was an earlier SN story about the first targets and I think there was some additional information in there, but i don't remember if there was any mention of why these two first.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 08 2022, @05:51PM
Which ones are not the dead ones?
The ones that most likely hold life like in the ones in the goldilocks zones and the ones that contain water/atmosphere.
We will get there, but why not just park the scope right at the obvious targets first?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @12:58PM (1 child)
Unfortunately science has to do marketing just like a company or movie release.
If company puts out a product without any previous promotion it is likely to be ignored. But if people can say oh that's the new product I've heard so much about they then pay attention when it is finally released.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @06:17PM
NOW with more megapixels! See the universe's goatse in more detail THAN EVAR BEFORE!
(Score: 1) by bobmorning on Tuesday June 07 2022, @04:24PM
I wonder if they can see the ring gate and the planet Laconia that lies beyond it?