# 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:** 40
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/781 "2022-07-17T00:03:34Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > All of the raw data is available if you want it. There’s usually a delay in releasing the raw data, but anything sufficiently old is out there. Hubble, Spitzer, JWST, etc. data can be found [here](https://mast.stsci.edu/portal/Mashup/Clients/Mast/Portal.html). Grab the original sensor data or more mildly processed imagery. Not everything is to oversaturated. If I get my good printer to work I’ll just download an image and pull the color back. It’s a pretty simple process. ---
**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 17, 2022, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/782 "2022-07-17T02:49:16Z")
Some Jupiter Pix: [https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/07/14/webb-images-of-jupiter-and-more-now-available-in-commissioning-data/](https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/07/14/webb-images-of-jupiter-and-more-now-available-in-commissioning-data/) Brian ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/783 "2022-07-17T09:58:02Z")
Very cool. The shape of Jupiter seems slightly different depending on the filter. I wonder why that could be? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/784 "2022-07-17T14:32:11Z")
You can see Jupiter’s ring! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/785 "2022-07-17T15:46:04Z")
Let me know when it can spot the monolith. That _Nova_ episode is available on PBS’s site and (surprising me) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF-7eKtzAHM), ---
**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 19, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/786 "2022-07-19T17:14:16Z")
Thanks for this I hadn’t seen it yet. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/787 "2022-07-19T20:34:47Z")
Seen this one? > ---
**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 19, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/788 "2022-07-19T20:47:17Z")
Makes one wonder what Don McLean’s “Vincent” would sound like through the James Webb Telescope. ---
**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 19, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/789 "2022-07-19T21:14:28Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > There’s usually a delay in releasing the raw data, but anything sufficiently old is out there. In particular, NASA has a policy that all data from any of its missions must be released to the public no later than a year after it’s collected. The folks who run individual missions often set their own, quicker policies, and in some fields, it’s traditional to have no data embargo at all: All data is made public immediately. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In the next couole of days they are going to be look8ng at **SN1987-A,** a Supernova, Nitpick: A very recent supernova remnant. It hasn’t been a supernova for 35 years. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Can the JWST only look at things that are on one plane? (i.e. Can it point itself in different directions to look at various objects?) At any given moment, it can only look in and near a single plane: It has to keep the sunshield between it and the Sun, and the scope itself is aimed “sideways” to that. But over the course of a yearly orbit, that plane sweeps out the whole sky: A small region near the poles can be observed always, and anything else can be seen twice a year. > [@Napier](#): > > I think this is untrue of “deep field” images, in which individual objects have typically been redshifted by amounts that vary considerably. You’d need a separate filter for each object in the field, because interesting spectral lines originally emitted by the object are now all over the infrared spectrum. True, though I don’t know how much they’re planning on doing at cosmological distances. All of the exoplanet stuff is within our own Galaxy, with negligible red or blueshift. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/790 "2022-07-19T21:24:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > True, though I don’t know how much they’re planning on doing at cosmological distances. Wasn’t imaging cosmologically redshifted objects usually listed first as one of the reasons JWST was designed for the infrared rather than the visible? ---
**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 19, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/791 "2022-07-19T21:28:38Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Wasn’t imaging cosmologically redshifted objects usually listed first as one of the reasons JWST was designed for the infrared rather than the visible? Yes, it is. But the high-resolution spectroscopic capability of the JWST is another really important feature for obtaining information about the atmospheres of exoplanets. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/792 "2022-07-19T21:35:41Z")
This incredible image of Galaxy M74 was processed by Danish Professor Gabriel Brammer from raw Webb data. This is ONE galaxy! [![](https://i.redd.it/dm23atzybkc91.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/dm23atzybkc91.jpg) His comment: > the purple color cast here is actually “real” in the sense that emission from interstellar cigarette smoke (PAH molecules) makes the filters used for the blue and red channels brighter relative to the green > > I just stuck the three separate images from the JWST automatic pipeline together ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/793 "2022-07-20T04:15:32Z")
and this is a perfect example. If you wanted to print this out to hang on a wall you can play with the colors to match the paint scheme. It’s not like the color is accurate. it’s the grandeur of the image that matters. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/794 "2022-07-20T12:10:21Z")
An illustration of the damage done. > **[Meteor impact left 'uncorrectable' damage to the Webb telescope's mirror, new...](https://www.livescience.com/james-webb-space-telescope-micrometeoroid-picture)** > > Fortunately, engineers planned for this. ---
**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 20, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/795 "2022-07-20T13:26:59Z")
I worry about my kids having collisions on the road. Now I have to worry about the JWST having collisions in space. 😟 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/796 "2022-07-20T15:30:42Z")
So, my question/points are a direct product of the astounding discoveries the Webb telescope has already made in its young life, so I’m posting here. As I understand it, the telescope was pointed at a spot that was previously considered to be “empty” of galaxies, a point compared to a grain of sand held at arm’s length. The results have been nothing less than astounding. That “empty” area is full of galaxies, many of them red shifted, which indicates that they are expanding at tens of thousands of kilometer per hour. Our universe has always been described at “infinite”, but there can no longer be any doubt that, as vast as it is, it is constantly expanding at a prodigious rate. So, my question is, how can it be infinite if it is constantly expanding from somewhere it is to somewhere it is not? It seems to be creating its own space like some kind of monumentally gigantic warp bubble. ---
**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 20, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/797 "2022-07-20T16:03:00Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > As I understand it, the telescope was pointed at a spot that was previously considered to be “empty” of galaxies, a point compared to a grain of sand held at arm’s length. That was more the Hubble Deep Field. It wasn’t really considered to be empty, it’s just that telescopes before Hubble couldn’t see anything there. We knew there would be galaxies in the image, that’s why we took it. The JWST “Deep Field” was not chosen as an empty area of the sky, but was chosen specifically to take advantage of a galaxy cluster’s gravitational lensing to let us see significantly farther than we could otherwise. > [@Jasmine](#): > > That “empty” area is full of galaxies, many of them red shifted, which indicates that they are expanding at tens of thousands of kilometer per hour. Much more than that. > [@Jasmine](#): > > Our universe has always been described at “infinite”, Not really. It’s really big, certainly many times larger than the observable universe, and probably much larger than that. It _could_ be infinite, or it could be finite and just really big. > [@Jasmine](#): > > there can no longer be any doubt that, as vast as it is, it is constantly expanding at a prodigious rate. We’ve been pretty sure about that since the late 90’s. > [@Jasmine](#): > > So, my question is, how can it be infinite if it is constantly expanding from somewhere it is to somewhere it is not? It is expanding _from_ everywhere. There is nowhere that it is not. It is not expanding _into_ anything, and it’s not expanding _from_ anything. ---
**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 20, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/798 "2022-07-20T16:12:24Z")
Except where gravity counteracts expansion—galaxies, local groups, super-clusters. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/799 "2022-07-20T16:46:45Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > So, my question is, how can it be infinite if it is constantly expanding from somewhere it is to somewhere it is not? It seems to be creating its own space like some kind of monumentally gigantic warp bubble. You’re really right – it’s creating space. The distance between fixed points is increasing. There’s some handwaving to say “fixed points”, but if you go two very distant locations (billions of ly) and place inertial bodies whose velocity relative to the nearest, say, 100 ly of other bodies averaged, those will do. You will find the space between them growing. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/800 "2022-07-20T16:53:18Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > You’re really right – it’s creating space. The distance between fixed points is increasing. That’s my point. If it is creating space, it is getting bigger, and “infinite” can’t get bigger, can it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624.md?page=39) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624.md?page=41)