There is excitement around the latest space observatory launched by the US. To follow the buzz in social media about the images transmitted we also saw naysayers comparing the image with an extremely blurred image of a robber captured by CCTV cameras. If we cannot capture something so close it is ironic that we try to look so far. The naysayers also tried to rationalize the expenses done while mentioning that if such spending was done to save our own planet from climate change; it would have been worthwhile spending in comparison. For those uninitiated, The James Webb Space Telescope, also called Webb or JWST, is a large, space-based observatory, optimized for infrared wavelengths. It will cover longer wavelengths of light than Hubble and will have greatly improved sensitivity. The longer wavelengths enable JWST to look further back in time to see the first galaxies that formed in the early universe and to peer inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming today. It is only at infrared wavelengths that we can see the first stars and galaxies forming after the Big Bang. And it is with infrared light that we can see stars and planetary systems forming inside clouds of dust that are opaque to visible light
The primary goals of Webb are to study galaxy, star, and planet formation in the universe. To see the first stars and galaxies that formed in the early universe, we have to look deep into space to look back in time (because it takes light time to travel from there to here). The universe is expanding and therefore the farther we look, the faster objects are moving away from us, redshifting the light. Redshift means that light that is emitted as ultraviolet or visible light is shifted more and more to redder wavelengths, into the near- and mid-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum for very high redshifts. To study the earliest star and galaxy formation in the universe, we have to observe infrared light. Star and planet formation takes place in the centers of dense, dusty clouds, obscured at normal visible wavelengths. Near-infrared light, with its longer wavelength, is less hindered by the small dust particles, allowing near-infrared light to escape from the dust clouds. By observing the emitted near-infrared light we can penetrate the dust and see the processes leading to star and planet formation. An infrared-optimized telescope allows us to penetrate dust clouds to see the birthplaces of stars and planets.
This observatory is named after James E. Webb (1906- 1992), NASA's second administrator. Webb is best known for leading Apollo, a program that landed the first humans on the Moon. He also initiated a space-science program that was responsible for many launches including America's first interplanetary explorers
We have yet to observe the era of our universe’s history when galaxies began to form. We have a lot to learn about how galaxies got supermassive black holes, and we don't really know whether the black holes caused the galaxies to form or vice versa. We can't see inside dust clouds with high resolution, where stars and planets are being born nearby, but Webb will be able to do just that. We don't know how many planetary systems might be hospitable to life, but Webb could tell whether some Earth-like planets have enough water to have oceans. We are expecting to learn more about where dark matter is now, and we hope to learn the history of the acceleration of the universe that we attribute to dark energy.
JWST is expected to cost NASA 10.8 Billion$. Are the above-mentioned benefits justifying these expenses, especially during our existential crisis brought about by Climate change? To be able to justify this Webb of questions, let’s visit the past history of space research and the benefits it has brought to mankind, especially on climate change. Satellites operated by NASA, and other commercial firms provide a plethora of multispectral imaging and radar measurements of developments such as coral reef degradation, harmful plankton blooms, and polar bears negotiating thinning ice. The technology involved in observing the Earth today was initially developed for probes sent to explore other planets in our solar system. It was the NASA Satellite data that revealed a frightening and growing hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole galvanizing public concern and resulting in the Montreal protocol in 1987. Understanding the evolution of other planets’ climates is essential for modeling possible outcomes on Earth. NASA probes revealed how a runaway greenhouse gas syndrome turned Venus into an uninhabitable planet of acid rain. As we continue studying the transformation of a once warm and wet Mars into a frigid, dry dust ball—and scientists even conceive of a future to transform it back into a livable planet. Discovering other worlds’ history and imagining their future offers important visions for climate change mitigation strategies on Earth, such as mining helium from the moon itself for future clean energy. Spinoff technologies from space research, from GPS to semiconductor solar cells, are already helping to reduce emissions; the efficiency gains of GPS-guided navigation shrink fuel expenditures on sea, land, and air. The applications such as the giant solar wings that power the Space-Stations have continually driven improvements in solar cell performance, and NASA first demonstrated the value of the sun for powering communities on Earth by using solar in its own facilities. Moving solar power generation away from Earth would preserve land and cultural resources from the blight of huge panel farms and save landfills from the growing problem of discarded old solar panels. Space technology offers the possibility of freeing the Earth’s fragile biosphere and culturally important sites from the otherwise unavoidable damage caused by manufacturing and mining. A U.S. start-up is currently taking the first steps toward manufacturing in orbit. Mining resources from a distant lifeless world is clearly preferable to the degradation of the earth.
The possibilities are enormous. We never know what Webb will be woven in the future!
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