We have uncovered
wonders undreamed
by our ancestors
who first speculated
on the nature
of those wandering lights
in the night sky.
We've crossed the solar system
and sent ships to the stars,
but we continue to search.
We can't help it.
Essential element
of the human future
lies far
beyond the earth.
If we crave
some cosmic purpose,
then let us find ourselves
a worthy goal.
Hello and welcome
to another episode of NASA's
Science Life.
An opportunity
for you
to interact with NASA experts
and have your questions
answered. Live on air.
I'm your host to hear Alan.
And today we are joining
you live from NASA's
Goddard Space
Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Maryland.
We will be taking
your questions
about Webb's
historic images
all throughout today's show.
Live on air.
For those of you
tuning in on social media,
you can use the hashtag
unfold the universe
to submit questions
or drop your questions
directly into the comment box
wherever you're
watching this stream.
This week, the James Webb Space
Telescope released
its first full color
images and data.
And this is just the beginning.
As the world's
most powerful space telescope,
it will examine every phase
of cosmic history
from the first luminous glows
after the big bang
to the formation
of galaxies, stars, planets
and the evolution of our own
solar system.
This is a huge moment
marking a new way to see
the universe
beyond where we have ever been,
beyond time itself.
Let's take a moment
to pull back the curtains
and see what Webb has revealed.
This first image of a Galaxy
cluster takes us back
4.6 billion years,
giving the deepest
and sharpest
infrared image
of the distant universe
to date.
This graph,
the most detailed of its kind,
shows
the distinct signature of water
in the atmosphere
surrounding a hot
gas giant planet
that is orbiting
a distant sunlight star
hundreds of light years away.
In this image
of the Carina Nebula,
Webb pierced through
cosmic dust,
revealing previously invisible
areas of star
birth, covering about one
fifth of the moon's diameter.
This is Webb's
largest image to date,
showcasing in rare detail
a group of interacting galaxies
known as Stephan's quintet.
And some stars
save the best for last.
Webb captured a dying star's
final performance,
sending out rings of gas
and dust
for thousands of years
in all directions.
So now that
we have seen these incredible
images,
let's talk to our experts.
I'm joined today by Dr.
Alex Lockwood
Webb, project scientist and Dr.
Néstor Espinosa
Webb, astronomer,
both from the Space
Telescope Science Institute.
Thank you both
so much for being with us.
Thanks for having us to hear.
So the big days
here, we've seen the images.
We have the first data.
Nestor, I'm
going to start with you
as our astronomer.
Can you talk through
what Webb's
new images
show us
that we weren't
able to see before?
Well, Webb
is revealing a universe
to which we were a little bit
visible for us. Right.
It's looking in eyes
that we don't have
in colors of the light
that we are not able to grasp.
But right now,
thanks to this
beautiful machine,
we're able to see
the birth of stars in ways
we've not explored before.
You know, a galaxy far,
far away
and even distant exoplanets
with impressive detail.
So, you know, I'm
beyond stoked to be here
talking with you about this.
Yeah, absolutely.
And you mention
seeing in colors
that our eyes can't see.
Webb has this ability.
What is
what's so great about that?
Like, what do those
colors show us
about the universe? Right.
Depending on the
physical processes
that you're looking at,
it can give you
a ton of information.
For instance,
let's look,
you know, my
my expertize is an exoplanet,
so of course
I'm going to go back there.
And for exoplanets,
the infrared holds
the heat and molecules
that are
the most important for us.
When you hear water,
when you hear
carbon dioxide, when you
when you hear methane,
all those molecules are hidden
in the infrared.
And that's
why we have to go there.
That's why I'm
so excited
to see all these flow of data
through these images
that we can explore together.
Absolutely.
And so we have this clear view.
We know that the instruments
are working,
Alex, as the project scientist.
Can you shine light
on how Webb will
take humanity's knowledge
of the universe
to the next level?
Well,
it you
know, it's
really it's it's complementary
to what we've seen with
a lot of the telescopes,
especially Hubble.
Hubble does
visible wavelengths
in infrared and James
Webb does infrared.
You know,
and it's kind of like
if you look at the human body,
we can see a body.
We see people every day.
But you go to
the doctor's office
and you get an x ray
and you can see your bones.
You can see what's inside
someone.
And it's very different
than what you see
when you're looking at
the person.
But it tells you a lot
more information
and it's complementary.
It's the same thing
James Webb is.
It's not an x ray telescope.
It's an infrared telescope.
But it's the same idea
that it gives us
a completely different
but very informational view
of things
that we've already seen
with Hubble
and things that we
have yet to see.
Amazing.
And so
it's my
understanding, too, like this
is just the start for Webb.
So these are just
the first images
and the first showcasing
of its capabilities.
So Alex or Nestor,
can you all give us an idea
of what images and data
we can expect in the first year
of science?
Yeah, absolutely.
There are lots of programs
that are scheduled
from astronomers
across the world.
I think there's over
40 countries
that people
have have gotten data
that they're
going to get data from.
And, you know, we have
we're going to see more images
like the
the deepest fields,
the deep field
that we saw yesterday.
People are going to study that,
but fields like that
for even longer
to find
even more distant galaxies.
Lots of time to do that.
In fact,
I think that program is running
as we speak.
A program like that,
we're going
to look at more exoplanets,
which Nestor
can tell you all about,
and we're going to look at
star forming
regions, understand star birth
and star deaths.
Like one of the images
that we saw
of the Southern ring.
Really, Webb spans
the gamut of
anything astronomical,
and we have all of that planned
in the first year.
It's really,
really great depth.
Yeah,
if I might add, it's
I mean, the most exciting
to me,
at least
as an exoplanet person.
Yeah, we've
it's the first observatory
that will allow us to explore
a world as small as ours.
And these observations
have already happened,
some of them, actually.
And they're going
to be explored by scientists
starting tomorrow.
And we're
going to start learning
about these worlds
outside our solar system
for the first time
with exquisite detail.
I don't know what we will see.
We have some idea, of course,
but the universe keeps us
surprising us.
And that's
what I'm most excited about.
The the unexpected.
That is amazing.
And so
it wasn't the WASP exoplanet
that we characterize.
The atmosphere
that was light years
away, wasn't that?
It was about
four light years away.
It's very, very far away.
But even though it's
so far away,
we've had such a huge mirror
and such precise instruments
that we can't see,
you know,
what are features
that you're seeing right now
with exquisite details?
I don't even have
to show you a model.
You can see the Wiggles
going around
each of those willows.
It's water vapor
in the atmosphere
of these exoplanet
2000 light years away.
Imagine what we can do
with this.
No, seriously.
That's why
I'm getting so excited.
Like this is.
It's crazy
to think about
and just to wonder
what is going to come next.
This is this is amazing.
This is so exciting.
And we have so many questions
coming in on online.
So I'm going to take a pause
and we'll take some questions
from our viewers
as a reminder to those tuning
in, you can submit questions
for our experts on today's show
by using the hashtag
Unfold the Universe
on social media
or by dropping your question
directly
into the comment stream
wherever you're watching from.
So our first
question is from Charlie
on Twitter, who asks,
Does anyone know
if Webb has the ability
to view objects
within our own galaxy?
Yes.
Yes, definitely.
Well, you know,
a lot of Webb's bread
and butter is
distant galaxies, galaxies
outside our own Milky Way.
Most of the star forming
regions and planetary nebula
like we saw yesterday.
And exoplanets,
all the exoplanets
that we can study
are actually
within our own galaxy.
We can see very far
because of Webb's big mirror
and sensitive instruments.
But the closer we are,
the more detail we can have.
So something like this
beautiful nebula
that you're seeing right now
that's within our own galaxy,
and we can see
a lot more details
and see see inside
the nebula
to see what's going on.
So we can see
within our own galaxy.
Can we see within our own
solar system?
Yes, we can.
And it
we have
observations in the first year
as we were talking
to look at objects from Mars
all the way out to the Kuiper
Belt in our own solar system
and uh, yeah.
I mean, that's amazing.
That's really exciting
to think about.
It's, it's going far.
It's going close to home.
It's, it's going to be great.
And so let's move on
to Nick from Facebook,
who asks, Can
the GWC be pointed
towards an exoplanet
and get a clear image of it?
Nestor
Well, actually,
part of the observations
that are going to be made,
it can get what we call
a direct image,
which is really
like a little above
in a in a plot.
So you won't be able to see
these artistic representations
that you typically see
from, from the planets.
But we can get direct
light from some very young, hot
and distant exoplanets
out there.
So there are some motes
in particular.
There's one more
that it's called a coronagraph,
which is like,
you know, when you're
you're in the street
and there's too much light
and you put your fingers on top
so you don't get,
you know, too much
light on top.
That's exactly what we're doing
with this star
that the planet orbit.
So we tried to block it
with a little needle,
basically,
which we have some ways
of doing it on board.
And we're able to see like
a little dot going around
and that's the planet.
So yes,
there will be
some observations of that.
We've just quite amazing
on its own. Yeah.
And what does the Coronagraph
tell us?
Well, the Coronagraph
actually tries
to remove the star
because the whole point
and this is very interesting to
to to think about,
we're able to get light
from the farther away galaxies.
Right.
So very, very faint things.
People always ask like, well,
how can you not
get an image from a planet?
They're closer, right?
The problem is the star,
the stars are so bright
that they
you cannot
just see like the faint point
or qualities of the planet.
Right? Right on top of it.
So you have to remove it
somehow.
And this coronagraph
just removed the light
from the star.
So you can see have a pristine
look at
and the planet is a little dot.
Okay, cool.
That's so interesting.
And so Claire on Twitter asks,
How does JWT
know where to zoom in
to capture the images?
That's a good question.
And that is actually decided
by astronomers worldwide.
Every year
there's a process
of selecting the targets,
very rigorous.
Lots of astronomers
get together and
and look at the proposals
without names on them,
you know, so
so they're unbiased
and they say,
what's the best science
for Webb to do?
And then once those
those targets get chosen,
then we
we put them
into our calculators on Webb
and we point Webb.
But where it looks
specifically at any given time
is based on the science target,
and those are
proposed by astronomers
across the world.
Nice.
And isn't Webb
just very efficient?
I know we were talking
before that.
It's really kind
of making it
a little easy on astronomers
right now.
Couldn't
you really talk to that?
Maybe. Yeah, you can.
I can jump into that.
I mean, the
the way in which you get
from the data to the results,
it's incredibly fast.
We were
I mean, this is a story that we
we both were part of
within producing
this very first images,
like the analysis
of the exoplanet.
You know, in one day I have
we have like
one spectrum already.
So one day these things,
you know,
with previous instruments,
they took like years,
like tens of years,
even for some instruments.
But now where it's so stable,
it produces data, so pristine
that you're able
to extract information
right away from it.
So it's
that speaks of its efficiency
and observing
how the data is reduced, etc..
So it's going to open up.
It lowers the bar.
So, you know, people can jump
and do science on their own
much faster, much quicker
and much more efficiently.
Yeah.
And I'll add that, that
that deep field
image that we saw
with all the galaxies in it
that was taken in
less than 12 hours with Webb
and a similar image
that wasn't as sensitive
was take
took over 100 hours with Hubble
and so you're talking about,
you know, ten times faster
to get even more data.
That's really good efficiency.
I mean, I think it's it's
safe to say that it was worth
the wait. Yeah.
Webb is doing
some great things.
So moving on,
we have Holger on YouTube
who asks
what interesting observation
is planned of objects
within our solar system?
Yeah,
that's a really good question.
So we are going to look at
just like we studying
with exoplanets,
the atmospheres,
we're going to
look at the
atmospheres of planets
within our own solar system,
the the ice giants
and the gas giants.
There's a lot of
of beautiful cloud structure
in Jupiter and Saturn
that we're going to study,
as well
as the moons of those planets
to to understand
the entire system more.
And again,
look at these molecules that
Néstor was referring
to, methane, carbon dioxide
that are very strong
in infrared wavelengths.
So I actually have
a really good follow up
question to that
one.
Prithviraj on YouTube asks
how these photos are useful
for space scientists
and other
scientific communities.
So while we do get this data,
I guess,
could you talk a little bit
about how it might be applied?
Sure. Yeah.
So these images actually,
whenever you're seeing
these beautiful colors on
these images,
you're reading
physical processes
happening in them.
And this is the most
amazing thing that we have.
You know,
there's teams behind it
that actually
maximize
the information content,
so to speak, on these images.
So, you know,
some colors here, like
in these beautiful galaxies
that you're seeing here,
like this yellowish,
there's some
does some star formation.
And then
with this whitish colored,
you see the course
of these galaxies.
So those are different
physical processes happening
in these images here
in this beautiful Navajo.
You're seeing these gas
that it's very, very, very hot,
very ionized.
The blue one in the center
that's telling you
something like it's
there's energy
from the central star
that it's, you know, blowing
that giving energy to that gas.
And you can see it right away.
So this is not only beautiful
images.
This is like beautiful, pure
physical processes
that you can understand better
with this crisp,
beautiful,
colorful representations
that we're
seeing in these
beautiful images.
And does
this kind of
play a part
in helping us understand how
our planet was formed?
Absolutely.
You know,
one of
the really incredible things
to me about Web
is that it's going
to study
everything from
the birth of stars
and the planets
to form around them
all the way
to fully formed exoplanets.
And so when you're interested
in, you know,
why does the earth have water,
you have to go back
to the source material,
which is really
all of the molecular cloud
that it started from.
And how did
how did it end up at Earth
and not anywhere else,
for example,
in our solar system?
So we're going to look
at the entire evolution
of these
really interesting molecules.
And, you know, maybe we find,
you know,
maybe we find another
Earth like planet,
but if not, we,
you know,
we will be able to see
water in the original cloud
and then it
condensing out onto grains
and then it finding its way
to, you know, to a planet.
Web studies
every moment of that.
And it's
really going
to answer questions
about our own Earth, about how
unique or or, you know,
a common we are.
So I'm glad
you said that address
on Facebook
actually has a great
follow up for you, Nestor.
Why is finding water
vapor important?
Why is water vapor
important to Earth?
Well,
what are vapor
important in general
in these exoplanets?
It's super interesting
because it tells you something
about how these planets formed.
Actually, the amount of water
that you extract
from this plot
that you are seeing.
I can tell you, you know,
what's the amount of water
in this planet?
And that tells me know
exactly what Alex was.
You're saying
how water got there
and how it got there
depends on where the planet
so they can track the formation
of the planet.
Back to that whole history
that's on these
giant planets orbiting.
The small point is like ours.
What it tells you, you know,
also how it's delivered.
But, you know, water here
speaks typically of life.
Right?
That's the thing
that motivates
most of these speak about water
on rocky worlds.
So, you know,
you can go
from all the details, either
through how it formed,
then your life. Life itself.
So why did.
It's extremely important.
That's how we know
you know
how life emerges over here.
So you know that
that's that paints the interest
on this beautiful molecule.
Yeah.
I mean, is this even real?
It's like web does so much.
It is just so amazing.
And I mean, on Facebook asks,
how does Web actually work to
capture images.
That.
You want to go?
It's a complex process because
these detectors, for instance,
you know,
just just starting,
you know, how you detect this.
Like you're used to
these cameras
that you have
in your cell phones
right, is Pixel Station, etc..
Well,
the detectors
on Web, for instance,
they have to be very,
very special
because infrared light,
you have to
you have to know how
to capture it.
Not anything
kind of captured it. Right.
So just starting
from there, it's
extremely complex.
Then you go to all the way up
to where the light is coming,
the the optical path
that it has to go
through the telescope.
It reflects on different
and different mirrors inside
to get your
so your instruments
and dispersing the light
in order
to make sense out of it
all of that it's a very
it sounds like a
complicated process,
but we made it happen
and we made it happen.
And I have
I had to make this point here.
Thanks to
the international collaboration
behind Web, like NASA's ESA,
CSA, the Canadian Space Agency,
the European Space Agency,
this confluence
of different minds
to make this complex
observatory happen,
you know, that's how it works.
So, yeah,
it's a complex process
all the way in
even interpreting that data
now, creating
the beautiful colors
that you are seeing.
That's also a challenge
on its own.
How do you maximize
the information
in these images?
So they're
all the way
from technological advances
to us
humans interpreting
these images.
It's a whole path
that is very, very complex.
That that's
why we were laughing with Alex.
Yeah, it's like it's
just such a thing.
But we make it happen
as humans,
and I think
that's a beautiful thing
to celebrate.
Absolutely.
And wasn't
so much of the technology
on Web actually new?
You know,
it was literally created for
the telescope.
People had to make this stuff
from scratch. Right. Yeah.
We had never put something
into space that was this big.
You know, we had to fold it.
We we had to make lightweight
enough material
that we could
actually get it up in a rocket,
even though it was so big
that the, you know,
the backplane
that holds the mirrors,
the sunshield material,
and a lot of the detectors
themselves,
all all new technology.
Wow.
And and the six month
commissioning period, it's
just it's incredible.
Anyways, so oral on Twitch asks
how does the
how do webs images
not get blocked by the stars
in our galaxy s2 necessary.
I think you've mentioned
a little bit on that,
but if you could expand.
You know, some
some stars, four of them
or a galaxy. Yes. Right.
And you can actually see it in
some of the images
that were released.
So that
that happened sometimes.
But the important bit
and that's why
the first deep field image,
one of the important
bits on this,
you can see you start there
like the brightest
thought there, that's a star
and but you can see that
why don't we capture
so many stars as well?
It's because this is such a
tiny image.
I mean, that that's impressive.
You know,
it was said when the person was
was showing up this
that it is like a small
a grain of sand,
you know, projected on the sky
so that, you know, that
speaks wonders
of what
you can get out of this.
But, yes, stars do forevermore
like Galaxy Images.
But, you know, we
we know how to deal with them.
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
And the closest star, we.
We we built a giant sunshield
to block that light.
So, yes, that's funny.
So Emma on Twitter asks,
Hey, Nasim,
I was wondering
what's coming next?
What are the next targets
for Webb
and how often will be
will we be surprised
with new images and data?
That's that's a good question.
Well, I can tell you that
in during this week,
they have been looking
at some of the deepest
galaxy fields
and some of the
rockiest planets.
So really literally in the past
couple of days,
they have spanned the gamut
of science and distance.
And we you can anticipate
new new data and images
definitely within the next
few weeks.
And and then
I would
you know, I would say that
every month
at least, Webb
is going to surprise us.
It
there are already astronomers
out there
who have taken data
that was released today
and are starting
to analyze them
and figure out
the amazing scientific results.
And so you
you won't have to wait long.
I can say that. Okay.
I mean, that's great.
That sounds good to me,
I'm sure, with everybody else.
And so
we've waited long enough.
So you said that Webb's
targets have spanned
the gamut, spanned all across
the universe.
Has it captured anything
in our solar system already?
Yes.
So actually,
during the six month
commissioning process,
there was an image
taken of Jupiter
to test some of the modes
to make sure
that it wasn't too bright.
To make sure that we could
track sat
tracked Jupiter
as it moves
across the sky,
because objects
in our solar system
move much faster
relative to two distant things.
And so those were
successful images.
And and you can see them here,
you know, successful doesn't
even say anything
because they're beautiful.
So as we
said, we're going to study
objects in the sun,
in our solar system.
And for Jupiter,
one of the
very interesting things
is, is the clouds
and understanding
the cloud structure
which which pops out
clearly in one of these images.
And so this data itself
just came out today
as all of the data
from the past
six months was released
publicly today.
Great.
And so we have
Mercia on Facebook who asks,
There are more than 5000
known exoplanets.
And being able
to provide
spectroscopy
at the level of Webb
is outstanding.
How many of those exoplanets
are scheduled for observation?
Oh, that's a good question.
In the first year I remember,
the list
was in the cereal tents,
at least within within now.
And that
there's a beautiful picture
that was made by Nicole Cologne
from NASA
showing the whole span.
It covers
the span from rocky planets.
In fact, one of them,
one of the perhaps
one of the most exciting
one, Trappist one system,
we can speak more about that
nature, but
that one hosts some planets
that might be in
the habitable zone.
And this this system
wasn't really tell
the variations on already
there already taken
but have they cover
all their range
from rocky planets
to giant planets
hot cold
you name it all
the diversity is out there
in this first year.
So I cannot wait
to see what comes out of this.
I mean, your energy is like
I can feel it right now.
So I very excited about this
as well.
Overview effect on Twitter asks
What was the exposure
time of the released images
and how does the Webb's
Deep Field compare to Hubble's
ultra deep field?
Yeah.
So each of these
images, it
depends on the image.
But yeah, you can see
the beautiful comparison
with Hubble, Hubble's image
of the same field and Webb's.
And as I mentioned before,
you know, this image of
Webb took
I think it was total 12 hours
and the Hubble field took days.
So really
a very large difference
for time that it took.
For the other images
that were released yesterday,
they were all between,
you know, six
and 12 hours a piece,
depending on the image.
And and, yes, you know, it.
Webb is just as powerful
as Hubble.
And I think these
these images really show
that they're complementary.
And Webb
has the beautiful resolution
and added detail.
I mean, it's amazing.
It's like
going to the eye doctor
and getting your glasses
updated.
You know,
you can see clearly now
and this is this is incredible.
So, Nestor,
I've got a good one for you.
Wild dogs OG on Twitch asks.
I wonder why Naza
looked at WASP 96 B first
instead of proximate
Proxima Centauri
or Alpha Centauri
or even Trappist one?
That's an excellent question.
First of all, the Proxima,
Proxima and Alpha,
they're too close,
they're too bright.
But we'll find ways
to figure that one out.
But what's 96 B?
It's a very,
very interesting planet
on its own.
So the story goes that
when we look
at other exoplanets
with Hubble,
whenever we look at a hot,
giant exoplanet,
we find clouds.
And we actually
that's no surprise,
if you like, in retrospect,
if that was no surprise,
because when you look
at the solar system,
all giant planets.
But then
this one,
the features
that Howell was seeing
and also ground
based telescopes
we're seeing
are so distinct
that there was this belief
that maybe didn't have clouds.
And that was very weird.
I was
I was personally
weirded out by this.
So, you know,
that's
I mean, the excellent selection
to go with this planet
to figure out,
you know, what what
we will see with web size
and guess who
what we found with websites
cloud.
So, yes,
we found like some very,
very distinct
signatures of clouds.
So if you look in detail,
we done detail
as as precise as what web
ice presents to us.
You actually found things
that you believed that
they were not there before.
And that was exactly the case
with what, 96 be.
So I think
it teaches us a lesson.
And I tell you,
we have people
from the scientists right now
trying to figure it out,
all the little details,
trying to model the data
from from the picture
that we released.
So it's it's
exciting on its own.
It's a very,
very exciting system.
It is exciting to
to just
hear that
we have learned something
that we didn't expect
in just the first observation.
Again, this is just the start.
And so that is incredible
to think about.
So we have Tara
Blake, him on Twitch,
who asks,
what were your thoughts
and reactions
when you saw
the colorized pictures
for the first time?
What did that feel like?
We I
when the first
image was
taken of the Carina Nebula,
which is that
beautiful landscape
that was that we saw yesterday,
the first image, just one
color of the image
was was available.
We immediately downloaded it
and just looked at
the raw data.
And I literally teared up
because
there was so much structure
just in one color.
And you can see it in the image
that the structure
structure equals
scientific potential
because those details are
where you extract all the
all the nuance in the story
and the science.
And I, I teared up.
I could not believe
how good Webb was.
Better than expected.
It's it's
been really emotional.
I can imagine.
NESTOR Yeah, no,
I had the same and the,
the beautiful thing
was seeing the process, you
know, the process of, of,
yes, you get, you know,
color by color
and you start adding
it's like making up a painting
of the universe. Right?
And you're right there
sitting in this big table
with these beautiful images
just being made
and being this, you
know, amazing
human beings
next to you,
being able to share that
with the world later.
It was a whole experience.
So I it was a very
you know, people
typically think
that we scientists like,
you know, are very, very smart.
This was a very human
human experience
of sharing
of amazing each other
and of, you know,
just peering into the universe
with these pictures.
It was it was amazing.
We sat in room
literally every day
for the past month.
A group of about 30 of us
scientists and artists,
and looked
at these at these data
as they came down.
And it was
I mean, it
it was it was a privilege.
It was amazing.
And yeah, as Nestor
said, you know,
it was a team effort
and the human element
of trying to do the best
by this mission,
by, you know, humanity
to to to really wow people.
And and I mean, Webb
brought it.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, that's the best way
to put it.
So, Alex Nestor,
we will be back with you in
just a bit to answer
some more questions
from our viewers.
For those of you
tuning in, keep
sending your
questions on online.
You can submit them
using the hashtag
Unfold the
universe on social media
or by dropping your question
directly into the comment box.
Wherever you're watching from
the Webb
Space Telescope is
just starting its science
and still has so much to reveal
about our universe.
The newly released images
have given us a never
before seen view of the cosmos
and reminded us
how science and art
are so beautifully woven
together
as the
telescope continues
to peer into the great beyond.
What do you think Webb
will see?
Show us by creating art.
You can sing. You can dance.
You can write, you can paint.
In this case,
the universe is literally
the limit.
Share a photo or video of you
and your creation
using the hashtag.
Unfold the universe
for a chance
to be shared
on NASA's
website or social media
channels.
Need some inspiration?
Let's take a look.
I think this song,
this was
the galaxy of the solar system
and other systems are
in this country
and the stars are made
of sunlight
and solar radiation and
other clouds
effectively affect.
But I would just hope.
That even if.
All right, we are back with Dr.
Alex Lockwood, web
project scientist, and Dr.
Néstor Espinosa
Webb, astronomer
to keep taking
some more
of your questions online.
If you're
just tuning in with us,
be sure
to submit your questions
using the hashtag
Unfold the universe
on social media
or by dropping your question
directly into the comment box
wherever you're
watching this stream.
Yesterday,
communities around the world
were hosting special events
for Web's image release,
and we received
a video question
from one student named Olivia,
who is part of the Girl
Scout troop
of tropical Florida.
Let's take a look.
Cut the umbilical cord.
But I'm from Miami, Florida.
And my question is
what information
about things you can do
with the Earth's climate team?
Great question, Olivia.
So, Nestor,
Alex,
what can Web
tell us about Earth's
climate change?
Well, this is an excellent
question, Olivia.
Thank you very much.
Well, the reality is that Web
has this promise, you know,
of being able to explore
distant exoplanet atmospheres,
even for the ones of planets
that might host
habitable conditions,
maybe even similar to Earth.
So that allow us actually
to start peering
into that diversity
of atmospheres out there
and that
actually teaches us,
you know, where
maybe our atmosphere
might might end
and therefore
or how many other
types of atmospheres and
and that can actually,
you know,
inflow into our understanding
of our own climate change
here on earth.
Mm. Alex. Our thoughts?
Yeah.
Well, you know, to me,
climate change
is a really big question
and a big challenge
for humanity to take on.
And that's actually
just like Webb.
20 years
ago, people had
big, audacious questions
about the universe.
And then we built exactly
the perfect,
incredible tool
to answer those.
And it was
an international collaboration.
That's the only way that
that it was possible.
And so I actually I mean,
I think, you know, tackling
tackling web and tackling
climate change
are similarly
audacious challenges.
And we've proven we can do it.
So I really think that
that gives us hope
for the question
of what we can do
for climate change.
I mean, absolutely,
seeing what Webb has done,
that leaves me hopeful.
So, I mean, that sounds great.
Our next question is from Tesla
hype on Twitter.
Who asks,
What might Webb teach us about
dark matter or dark energy?
Well, these
detailed images
that you are just seeing out
about galaxies,
there's some of them
for which you can see
such exquisite details
as to, you know, where certain
populations of stars are
and hidden
or, you know, even
some of the dynamics
you will be able
to see about these
these galaxies.
That's the key
for investigating dark matter.
For instance,
dark matter is one of the parts
that dominate
the whole dynamics
in these galaxies.
And therefore,
it will definitely tell us
new clues
about how dark matter is spread
through different types
of galaxies.
There's even,
you know, the hypothesis
that maybe some galaxies might
might not have
a ton of dark matter,
for instance,
but those are very, very faint.
But then Webb has such
a huge mirror
that it can actually peer
into those with very, very,
you know,
enough detail to tell you,
you know.
Oh, yes, maybe it doesn't have.
So all these questions.
Yes, it will
enable us to answer them.
And in terms of dark energy,
you know, these
this strange thing
that it's
making in the universe
do not
only expand,
but expanding
in an accelerated fashion
like every second,
it's expanding faster,
you know, because
we can reach out
to the most distant galaxies.
It can actually teach us a ton
about the
how this expansion
happens at different
at different positions,
you know,
at different times even.
So, yes, definitely
it will allow us
to peer into details
that we have not
had the chance to before,
for sure.
So one thing that I think
is really cool
is how
we tend to use
different telescopes.
You know, we use data
from multiple different
telescopes
to get
an even
bigger picture of the universe.
So will Webb
be complementary
to any of
the other space telescopes
that are already out there
or that might be coming up
in the future?
Alex, you want to take this?
I mean, absolutely.
We you can already put
Hubble and Webb
images side by side.
And you see that
that there's
additional information
that you can get from
from both of those images.
And, you know, in
terms of
studying
the scales of the universe
and dark matter and dark energy
that we were
just talking about,
the the Lego Mission, the Lego
Telescope that measures
gravitational waves,
it it has found some incredible
pairs of
of rotating neutron stars
that help us understand
that, you know,
Einstein's original equations,
Webb has the ability
for when a unique phenomenon
like that happens,
Webb has the ability to stop
what it's doing and go
look at that
to provide
additional information.
And there's actually a system
between telescopes
where they can alert each other
to say
there's something
really important and timely
going on in the universe.
Let's look at it together
to get added information.
And so Webb will be
part of that as well.
So telescopes can like phone
a friend
and oh, my
gosh, that's amazing.
That is a fun fact.
So wait
one minute on Twitter asks,
How do scientists
separate stars from, galaxies
in such pictures?
Well, this structure
tells you a lot about that.
First of all,
the fact that galaxies are
we have a
for them like, you know,
if you search this are not
I can't remember
I could actually not a word
but we know
which sources are like.
Galaxies are more diffuse
and while
stars are very,
very pointy
points in the images,
there's a point, though,
in which,
especially for
the faintest stars,
in which it gets
like kind of tough to separate
between them
just from an image.
So you have to
go and get more data.
So there's a point
at which it gets challenging,
but for most of them,
you know,
we have a pretty good idea on
how to do that.
I actually have a great follow
up to that.
So Aaron on us on Twitch asks,
How do you convert the data
into such colorful photos?
When I take this, I mean, I.
Sure I mean,
the data
come down,
you know, as ones and zeros
and but basically what you do
is you
focus on one color
of light at a time.
And on your infrared detector,
you say how much light
is being collected on
any given
point on the detector?
And so you actually
have like a spatial map
for where
the light is coming in
and the more light
you get, the brighter
it is in that one wavelength,
in that one color.
And then we take
many color
pictures,
individual wavelengths,
and then add them together
to make color images.
It's a process on its own.
It's that whole art.
I mean,
we have experts in-house
back at that space.
Let's give the did all this
and seeing this work unfold,
we know all the universe
was like magnificent.
I mean,
how we humans
can make this happen
in these beautiful images.
It's it's
a whole process that I loved.
Yeah. It is.
And I'm glad I'm glad
that you said that.
And you alluded to it
earlier about how Web is truly
an international mission.
Didn't like one over
hundreds of scientists
and thousands of engineers
work on this mission.
Over 20,000 people
make this mission happen.
So it's you know, it's a huge,
huge team effort, right?
Mm hmm.
And now,
you know, over the next year,
there's over
a thousand people
who are scientists
who are going to use the data,
you know,
and not just people
who already know
they're going to use the data.
And there's gonna
be a lot of more
people who who jump on it.
It it has
only been possible
with an
international collaboration.
And all of these people.
And it will,
you know,
its legacy will extend
and the scientific discoveries
will extend
as more and more people.
And really the next generation
of scientists, you know,
take this on as their mantle.
Speaking of
the next generation,
we have Alex,
who is 12 years old, who asks,
what is the maximum distance
that Webb can see?
Good name, Alex.
And so Webb, the
we we anticipate that Webb's
you know,
Webb is designed to look
about a light traveled time
distance of 13.6 billion years,
so to within about
150 million years
of the Big Bang.
And it's hard to like
put these numbers
in perspective.
Hubble has seen
to about 400 million
years after the Big Bang
and out of the age of the
universe,
which is 13.8, approximately
billion years,
Hubble has seen
maybe like a two year
old out of the entire age.
Webb is going to be able
to see a one year
old or a nine month old.
And Lester
and I have young children.
We can tell you that there is
ton of change that happens
between nine months
and two years.
And so understanding
the beginning of the universe
is going to be,
you know, really,
really amazing with Webb.
That is so exciting.
And so our next question
is from Tony Jepsen on Twitter,
who asks,
Do we know
how deep
in the atmosphere of WASP
96 B, the clouds and haze are?
Yeah, actually,
we have some
calculations on that.
I mean, I
could tell you
the pressure or the height,
but I don't
I don't think it makes,
you know,
what's going to make much sense
to say it here.
But we do. We do.
And that that information
that it's embedded
in this beautiful spectral line
you're seeing here,
we know the exact location
where the cloud
actually starts.
We know that it has to go below
a certain pressure.
So we know like a little bit
of the structure
of the atmosphere.
So, yes,
I mean, that
that's the kind of information
you get from modeling
data like this.
That is so exciting
and so
we have Meghan on Carroll
on Meghan Carroll on YouTube,
who asks regarding
the fantastic image
of the dying star
with the supernova of one star
caused the destruction
of the others.
I believe there are two stars
in that image.
And how large
is that explosion?
So that's a good question.
There are two stars
in this image
and the one that you actually
can see
that looks brighter,
that actually has the strong
diffraction pattern
that's actually still alive
and well.
It's it's a hot star,
the one
that only really appears
in the Mid-Infrared image.
That's the star that has died.
They do gravitationally
exert a lot on each other.
And but the the explosion
in this case,
it wasn't quite a supernova.
It wasn't quite as massive
a star enough
to make a supernova.
But the explosion
from the death
of the first star,
the material will pass
by the second star,
but it's not going to
perturb it.
However, the structure
that you see
and the fact
that it's not just,
you know, a pure circle
is because of
the gravitational interactions
between these two stars.
And actually,
what we learned from this image
for the first time
is that the star that died
actually
still has dust around it.
It's dusty,
which basically means it
didn't it
either didn't expel
all of its layers,
which is very
I mean,
which would be really unique
or it might be pulling material
from the other star anyways.
We don't know yet,
but they're
definitely interacting
in more than just more ways
than just gravitational.
Wow.
A lot of mysteries
to unpack there.
So that's really cool.
We have armed camp on Twitter
who asks the pictures
that we're seeing
from the Carina Nebula?
How old are they
and how many years ago did
what we're seeing
actually happen?
Guess how many light years away
was that Nebula captured?
I don't have that off the
top of my head either.
That's okay.
Armed camp.
That information is on nasa.gov
and the web feature
for that image.
So but I think that does
bring us
to another good question.
Can either of you
put into context
what how big a light year is?
Sure.
I mean,
you hopefully we last
lasers, right.
Like these laser pointers.
Right.
So, you know
if you point a laser pointer
to us, to an object
that is one
light year away, away,
it will take one year
for that ray of light
to get there.
So if you are trying to,
you know, share Wi-Fi
with your friend
that four light years away,
it will take four years
for down track.
You'll get your Wi-Fi signal.
So you don't really
want to do that. Right.
It's like very,
very slow process.
Yeah, but that's basically
what a light year is.
Is that the amount of time
that takes?
So it's the distance
to which light can travel,
basically in one year. Yeah.
And to give you another
sort of piece to
to measure it on.
Pun intended
that the light travel time
between the earth
and the sun is 8 minutes,
and that's 93 million miles.
So 8 minutes into
an entire year
is a lot more than 83
million miles.
Yeah.
I was like, I'm
not even going to
try to do that,
but it's just a lot more.
Okay. Large distance.
Yeah, that's good to know.
We have pyro on YouTube.
Who asks, will
JWT help us identify
habitable planets?
And so
I know
we've talked a little bit
about how we can study
the atmospheres.
But we can study
more than just water vapor.
Right.
There are
multiple different molecules.
How does that
all play together?
Yeah.
So we're going through these
questions through layers.
The thing to understand is that
are our planet
inhabited conditions
for our planet?
Are very far away from from
for a whole start, the sun
because the sun
is relatively hot
to most stars out there.
But the stars
that we're going
to be exploring with Webb,
they're typically very cold.
So in order
to feel the same heat,
just as a radiator,
you have to get closer.
So the planets are
we're going to be studying
that.
I have,
however, what you call
calling the habitable zone
that we see,
you know, heat
similar to what
we feel here on earth
from the sun.
They're much closer
to their stars.
So the very first question is,
do these planets
retain their atmospheres?
And the reason for
that is because the stars,
they are very
much alive on their own.
And they have
you know, they are very
they are
some of them are very active.
And therefore, you know,
if the star
starts to go a little bit crazy
and have these spots,
it's fine for us.
Mostly telecommunications,
these are impacted,
but our lives are less so on.
Yeah,
but for these other worlds,
if there's some activity
in the Star,
then that might blow
off their atmospheres.
Even so, it's very dangerous
to go.
If you're thinking to go
to the next habitable planet
close by, please
don't wait
for us to investigate
back there.
But we want to figure out first
if they have an atmosphere.
Once we figure out
if they do
next, we start saying, okay,
which element does it have?
So we go step by step
and then
once we figure out
what they're made of,
then we can say, Oh, you know,
the atmosphere has conditions
that might sound
like what we call
habitable here
in the solar system.
So if we found, for instance,
like a very dense
atmosphere,
like the one that Venus has,
that's a place
you don't want to going
vacation.
Also,
I'm thinking a tone on vacation
because we've been six months
in commission. Right.
So it's vacation.
It's a very,
very nice water in my mind.
So depending on how bands
or what
molecules of
these planets have,
we might start
start getting closer and closer
to what we call have a devil.
So that's how it goes,
you know, by layers,
slowly, step by step.
Each layer
sounds exciting, though,
so it's going to be great.
We've got these observations
in the first year.
Everybody stay tuned.
So our next question
is from documentary
library on YouTube.
Who asks,
are the colors in the web
images real?
Basically,
if we looked at them right now,
is that what we would see?
No, they they
are false color images,
because the whole point of web
is that it's what we can't see.
Hubble is has basically
the same eyes
that we do
invisible wavelengths.
But Hubble gives us
a completely new view
in order to for us
as humans to be able
to look at these,
we translate the colors.
So basically,
we just
you know,
if you think of colors
like what we can see,
you know, ABCD
and then infrared would be
e, f, g h
and so we just say that,
you know,
instead of E, it's now a
and we just,
we just take infrared colors
which are wavelengths
and we make them
into visible colors
with like our eyes.
But if you look at an image,
something that's red on
the image is redder in space.
So it's a real representation,
but they are false color images
because that's the only way
that we could appreciate them.
Otherwise,
we show you a blank page
and no.
Yeah,
it would be very exciting.
Like, Oh, okay, well, this
is great.
That's really where, you
know, the intersection.
I kind of feel like science
and art, you know,
or weaving that together.
So we have our next question
from Minister of Casual
on Twitch,
who asks,
Is there anything
we as the public
with no background in astronomy
can do to help contribute
to analyze the images
and data from Web?
Well, that is a great question.
Yeah.
I mean,
there's there's different
different ways
you can approach this, I guess.
I mean,
just by looking at the images,
you can
you will approach early.
And I've heard this
from the public,
some things they ask
such great questions
like, what is this?
And we ask the experts
and the expert like,
I don't know.
So you can
you know,
you can figure it out
on your own.
In the past,
with previous missions, there's
there's has been some projects
that have emerged
as what we call citizen science
in which,
you know,
we put some challenges,
we process
a little bit the data,
and then we show that data
through the public,
and then they probably can also
help.
This is how,
you know,
galaxies can be discovered.
Planets have been discovered.
So I could imagine that this
this same idea
could be envisioned
with a mission like we've seen.
Yeah. Yeah.
I definitely you know,
I think that there's
definitely citizen
science projects
in the future with web,
you know,
and just supporting science
so that, you know,
the work that needs to get done
and these beautiful telescopes
that need to get built
are supported by,
you know, by by our country,
by our government, you know.
And so people who believe in
and support science
and there's no reason
not to believe in it
because it's true
until we prove it wrong.
And that's the beautiful cycle
of science.
Just, you know,
just supporting science is
is really the best
that anybody can do.
And as Nestor said,
asking questions,
those oftentimes lead to things
we didn't even know.
We wanted to study.
So we have Serj on Twitter
who asks, Can
the general public request
telescope time with Webb
and will the data be made
available to the public?
Yes and yes.
So anyone,
anyone in
the general public can propose
the next cycle for proposals
will probably
there'll be an announcement
made in the fall
for people
to to propose to use
next years of Webb's time.
And a lot of the data
are already public today
and all of the data will be
made public at least
at least one year
at most, one year after
they are taken.
That is amazing.
And I know
actually
we have two citizen scientists
that have one time with James
with the James Webb Space
Telescope scope.
So it's free.
It's out there for the public.
And so
we'll move on
to our next question from Dana,
who on Facebook asks,
How do you measure
the distance of each galaxy
in the deep field image?
Oh, that's
an interesting question.
We do it through the expansion
of the universe.
Actually,
we take advantage of this.
It's a complicated thing,
but we can take
advantage of that.
So what happens
is that us
objects are farther away.
Their light
shows up to be a little bit
rather than what
we would expect.
And we have ways
of figuring out, you know,
how rev it has moved
so we can actually figure out
from the colors first
and then from spectra
from extra data
that we can take
on these objects.
We can take,
you know, this information
and then convert it
to a distance
based on the expansion
of the universe,
which we know very, very well.
Yeah. Wow.
Does it gravitational lensing
play a part in this?
Yes.
So gravitational lensing
actually helps us
see even farther back
because when you get
a massive cluster of galaxies,
their mass
actually distorts space time
according to,
you know, gravitation
Einstein's gravitational laws.
And so
things that are behind
a massive object,
that light
that may have gotten scattered
outside of where we can see
it actually
gets bent towards us.
And so
they act like
a magnifying glass for objects
that are behind them,
giving us access
to more distant galaxies.
Well, this is so cool.
And so
we only have
about one more minute left.
So this is going
to be a quick one.
But Alex on YouTube asks,
What are some of the more
anticipated discoveries
that you believe
the James Webb Space Telescope
is capable of making.
For forming the first detection
of an atmosphere around?
In an ideal world,
I mean, that would be
I would celebrate that
whoever makes that discovery
that's useful is well ahead.
I mean,
that would be fantastic.
Yeah.
What about you, Alex?
Your pick?
I mean, for me,
it's really
it's really star
and planet formation
looking into these beautiful,
stellar nurseries
and peering back
the dust, saying,
yes, there is a star
there, let's study it.
And then being able to look at
the gas dust,
the star and potentially
even baby forming planets
to see exactly
what is going on.
Unfortunately,
this is all the time
that we have for today.
But thank you both so much.
This has been so fun
and just
thank you
for shining
more light
on these historic images.
Thank you.
And thank you
to everyone tuning in today.
I'm so I'm so happy
we were able to answer
so many questions
and that we were able
to just spend
this moment together.
We hope that you keep
following the mission
as Webb continues
to peel back the curtain
on the mysteries of the cosmos
to keep up with updates,
follow NASA's
Web on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram.
If you're on social media,
be sure to check out
our Instagram
and Facebook filters.
You can wear web
shapes, sunglasses,
and take selfies
in front of the newly
released images.
Now, if you want to go
more in-depth on the mission
visit, go dot
NASCAR, dove forward slash.
Where is Webb?
Now, remember,
this is just the beginning
for the James Webb
Space Telescope,
so be sure to keep
following along
as it unfolds the universe.
Thank you
and see you next time.