# James Webb Space Telescope general discussion thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** science-math\ **Created:** [December 25, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624 "2021-12-25T13:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 30
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/581 "2022-07-01T17:04:28Z")
That’s just how the optics on a telescope work. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/582 "2022-07-01T17:16:12Z")
🙃 [https://i.ibb.co/597xzxt/JWST-first-picture-ud.jpg](https://i.ibb.co/597xzxt/JWST-first-picture-ud.jpg) ¡¡ … ʍǝᴉʌǝɹd ʎʞɐǝus ɐ s’ǝɹǝɥ … noʎ ɹoɟ ʇsnɾ 'ʞo ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/583 "2022-07-01T17:30:30Z")
Yes but what is its two’s complement? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/584 "2022-07-01T18:31:23Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I think I saw a 2. > [@Bullitt](#): > > Yes but what is its two’s complement? 🙂 That’s a very nice two @Folly saw there. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/585 "2022-07-01T19:01:33Z")
I don’t even see the code anymore. I see a blonde, a redhead… ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/586 "2022-07-01T19:44:24Z")
That’s actually Arcturus and Rigel. ---
**Author:** ![kwintenstraler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kwintenstraler/32/10698_2.png) [@kwintenstraler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kwintenstraler)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/587 "2022-07-01T20:00:04Z")
Meanwhile in the jungle…… NIRSpec is also good to go now, so that means that 16 out of 17 instrument modes are now ready for science. (Only NIRCam has 1 step yet to go) Some links: **Countdown** : How many minutes left? The official countdown is at [Countdown to Webb's 1st Images Webb/NASA](https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/countdown.html) **Watch** : See the images revealed in real-time and hear from experts about the exciting results on NASA TV at 10:30am Eastern on July 12: [https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive](https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive) **View** : Just interested in the amazing imagery? You will be able to find the first images and spectra at: [https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages](https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/588 "2022-07-01T20:19:33Z")
Thank you for those links. They’ll be very useful on the Big Day, July 12! ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/589 "2022-07-01T21:30:03Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I think I saw a 2. me too, … but it turned out to be a “10” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/590 "2022-07-02T00:01:12Z")
There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who can read binary and those who can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/591 "2022-07-02T13:52:02Z")
“It was just a dream, Bender. There’s no such thing as two” ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/592 "2022-07-02T17:37:59Z")
Meanwhile - back at L2… Only **1** Instrument Modes Check Out to go ! Just the NIRCam Coronagraphy left, and it’s very important because without it there wouldn’t be any of whatever it is that it does. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/593 "2022-07-02T17:41:28Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “It was just a dream, Bender. There’s no such thing as two” That’s what I was waiting for! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/594 "2022-07-02T17:47:29Z")
Happy to oblige ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/595 "2022-07-02T21:34:50Z")
‘How can I help it?’ he blubbered. ‘How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? 10 and 10 are 100.’ ‘Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are 101. Sometimes they are 11. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.’ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/596 "2022-07-02T22:25:01Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I think I saw a 2. Just a “bit” of noise in the data. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/597 "2022-07-06T14:49:54Z")
What images are we likely to see on the 12th? I ask so I can study up a little on the prior art. I’m guessing one category would be very high redshift galaxies or quasars. They seem very much in JWST’s sweet spot as they are dim, small, and in the infrared. One I’d love to see, but which we may not just yet, would be a “deep field”, where the telescope stares at an empty looking part of the sky. I love these. The idea that they’re just jam packed with the furthest galaxies we can imagine is exquisite. I suspect we may not see this yet because I get the impression they take a lot of observing time. OTOH, because the telescope isn’t rapidly dancing around Earth and its shadow, I guess they’d be easier to take than with Hubble, so maybe we will. Likely another would be a planet forming disk, perhaps with a few planets, around another star. I’m fond of images that resolve relatively nearby red giant stars, like Betelgeuse. Though, I guess big ground based telescopes are actually already better at this than JWST, so probably not. What might we anticipate? I want to be a prepared attendee! ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/598 "2022-07-06T14:55:58Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > One I’d love to see, but which we may not just yet, would be a “deep field”, where the telescope stares at an empty looking part of the sky. I love these. The idea that they’re just jam packed with the furthest galaxies we can imagine is exquisite The Hubble Ultra Deep Field took just under [1 million seconds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Ultra-Deep_Field#Observations) of observing time, or 11.6 days exposure. I doubt we’d get anything like that between now and July 12. Hell, just the data processing of such an image likely takes - at minimum - weeks of time. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/599 "2022-07-06T18:33:17Z")
I’m not sure if it is based on rumor or fact, so whatever grain of salt you want, but I heard (I seem to remember on Frasier Cain) that they had imaged the atmosphere of an exo-planet. That’d be pretty cool. Even if there’s nothing interesting about that particular planet, just being able to do it at all is pretty awesome. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/600 "2022-07-06T18:36:50Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I heard (I seem to remember on Frasier Cain) that they had imaged the atmosphere of an exo-planet. They have supposedly been able to do a spectroscopic analysis of the atmosphere of an exoplanet, which was one of the goals of the JWST. If true, and regardless of what this particular analysis turns up, it means they’ll be able to do it for many others, and thus giving us the best chance of detecting the signature of extraterrestrial life! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624.md?page=31)