# 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:** 37
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/721 "2022-07-12T22:15:46Z")
Dr Becky, after the preview image yesterday: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/la8dLLsuG9g/maxresdefault.jpg "JWST image release “pre-game” excitement!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la8dLLsuG9g) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/722 "2022-07-12T22:30:09Z")
They need to put her in charge of all of the press releases. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/723 "2022-07-12T23:45:02Z")
i just wanted to thank you (and your daughter) for the link to the ISS video. I’m not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes through most of it. > [@OttoDaFe](#): > > it struck me as never before that however insignificant we may be, we are part of something vast, transcendent and heartbreakingly beautiful Yes. This. Most definitely this. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/724 "2022-07-13T00:04:36Z")
Dr Becky’s initial reaction to the rest of the images (she will do a more detailed explanation later) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uZeEhUCAeac/maxresdefault.jpg "An astrophysicist's live reaction to the first JWST science images") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZeEhUCAeac) Brian ---
**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 13, 2022, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/725 "2022-07-13T01:36:57Z")
I still totally have a crush on Dr. Becky, but she now has competition for my virtual crushiness: Dr. Amber Straughn, Deputy Project Scientist for James Webb Space Telescope Science Communications. She is also the Associate Director of the Astrophysics Science Division. She was the one to introduce the extraordinarily detailed new image of the Carina Nebula, birthplace of stars. Also a person who loves to talk science to a lay audience, a highly accomplished astrophysicist in her own right, a lover of large dogs, and a private pilot. Checks all the boxes! ❤😉 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_m2xPKZaxMQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Why Do We Find Galaxies Beautiful? | Dr. Amber Straughn | Google Zeitgeist") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m2xPKZaxMQ) ---
**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 13, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/726 "2022-07-13T01:49:31Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Dr Becky’s initial reaction to the rest of the images Gosh, it’s so fun to watch her reactions. I think I learned a couple of things - she was impressed that we could resolve individual stars in one of the Stephen Quintet galaxies; I think she said we couldn’t (previously) even do that for Andromeda, a very close galaxy, and this one is much further. Also for an image I hadn’t previously googled up ([this one, at appallingly poor res on the Nasa site](https://stsci-opo.org/STScI-01G7DBWJJF54AX1DDP8KJ6XCPQ.png)), she’d wondered aloud what the top-right galaxy’s structure was about and the speaker right then said it was an active black hole - Dr. Becky is all “YES!” + fistpump to the camera. I’d love to hear the rest of her summary when she’s had time to digest. > [@](#): > > I still totally have a crush on Dr. Becky, but she now has competition for my virtual crushiness I get where you’re coming from, but can we not objectify astrophysicists? Gross, dude. ---
**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 13, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/727 "2022-07-13T02:10:05Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > can we not objectify astrophysicists? Oh, FFS! 🙄 My comment was undoubtedly off-topic, but hell, I really admire this woman and her accomplishments. She was raised on a farm in rural Arkansas and was the first of her family to attend college, and ended up getting a doctorate and then working for NASA in a senior position at a relatively young age. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/728 "2022-07-13T02:26:00Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > she was impressed that we could resolve individual stars in one of the Stephen Quintet galaxies; I think she said we couldn’t (previously) even do that for Andromeda, a very close galaxy, and this one is much further. I’d be surprised if she said that, since it’s totally not true. We can easily see individual stars in Andromeda and a number of other relatively nearby galaxies. And not just galaxies in the Local Group, but others further away. ---
**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 13, 2022, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/729 "2022-07-13T02:28:11Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I’d be surprised if she said that, since it’s totally not true. We can easily see individual stars in Andromeda and a number of other relatively nearby galaxies. And not just galaxies in the Local Group, but others further away. Yeah, it surprised me too, but there was crosstalk. Let me dial up the moment: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uZeEhUCAeac/maxresdefault.jpg "An astrophysicist's live reaction to the first JWST science images") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZeEhUCAeac&t=339) Not sure what she meant here? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/730 "2022-07-13T02:50:55Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Not sure what she meant here? Possibly referring to infrared bands only. Just a guess, but I’d bet that existing IR scopes don’t have the resolution to make out individual stars in Andromeda (aside from supernovae). ---
**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 13, 2022, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/731 "2022-07-13T03:06:41Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I get where you’re coming from, but can we not objectify astrophysicists? Gross, dude. There’s something gross here? Hey, any lover of large dogs and private pilot checks all MY boxes! There’s something wrong widdat? ---
**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 13, 2022, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/732 "2022-07-13T04:51:55Z")
nm plus words for discourse ---
**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 13, 2022, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/733 "2022-07-13T04:53:57Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > nm plus words for discourse You put up a picture of a pilot in an airplane with a dog and then erased it? Why? What was wrong with that? They looked like someone I could be friends with! ---
**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 13, 2022, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/734 "2022-07-13T07:39:08Z")
Arkansas? But isn’t she British? > **[Becky Smethurst](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becky_Smethurst)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Rebecca Smethurst is a British astrophysicist, author, and YouTuber who is a junior research fellow at the University of Oxford. She was the recipient of the 2020 Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship, awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society, as well as the 2020 Mary Somerville Medal and Prize, awarded by the Institute of Physics. In 2022, she won the Royal Astronomical Society's Winton Award "for research by a post-doctoral fellow in Astronomy ... ---
**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 13, 2022, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/735 "2022-07-13T08:00:18Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Arkansas? But isn’t she British? You haven’t been following along here. Arkansas was in reference to a different astrophysicist, Amber Straughn, about whom I made a light-hearted and complimentary comment that seems to have sparked controversy. Let’s just get back to discussions about the JWST. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/736 "2022-07-13T10:27:59Z")
This is Amber Straughn, from Bee Branch, Arkansas. She’s very well-credentialed : > **[Amber Straughn Biography Webb Telescope/NASA](https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/meetTheTeam/people/straughn.html)** > > James Webb Space Telescope ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/737 "2022-07-13T12:02:05Z")
Moderating: > [@Senegoid](#): > > > [@squeegee](#): > > > > I get where you’re coming from, but can we not objectify astrophysicists? Gross, dude. > > There’s something gross here? Hey, any lover of large dogs and private pilot checks all MY boxes! There’s something wrong widdat? Yes, there’s something gross about objectifying astrophysicists. Everyone, please drop the discussion of the personal, and especially the sexual appeal of the scientists involved, and get back to discussing the telescope, what the scientists are finding, and their scientific achievements. ---
**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 13, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/738 "2022-07-13T16:12:21Z")
Ok… James May (from Queen) and Graham Gouldman (from 10cc) have written a little dirge about the JWST. You can hear it [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOTFcnexJBg) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/739 "2022-07-13T16:46:56Z")
Here’s a great tool for looking at the full resolution images from the first JWST package, from the Worldwide Telescope project: > **[Explore JWST’s first images in full resolution!](http://web.wwtassets.org/specials/2022/jwst-release/)** > > Pan and zoom into the new images on a sky map using AAS WorldWide Telescope. Fantastic presentation that shows you where in the sky they are, then allows you to zoom in on the smallest details. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/740 "2022-07-13T16:55:03Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Ok… > James May (from Queen) and Graham Gouldman (from 10cc) have > written a little dirge about the JWST. > You can hear it [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOTFcnexJBg) You can’t get more cool than being a genuine rockstar AND an astrophysicist… at least not in the nerdsphere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624.md?page=38)