telescope | Common News Update

Sep12023 by adminNo Comments

James Webb: Telescope reveals new detail in famous supernova

Science

NASA/ESA/CSA/M.Matsuura et alBy Jonathan AmosScience correspondentIt's like a celestial pearl necklace. This is an image of a supernova - an exploded star - taken by the new super space telescope James Webb (JWST).SN1987A, as it's known, is one of the most famous and studied objects in the southern hemisphere sky.When the star went boom in 1987, it was the nearest, brightest supernova to be seen from Earth in almost 400 years. And now the $ 10bn (£8bn) Webb observatory is showing us details never revealed before.SN1987A is sited a mere 170,000 light-years from us in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy adjacent to our own Milky Way Galaxy.Astronomers are fascinated with the object because it provides an intricate view of what happens when big stars end their days.Dying star images s...

Aug232022 by adminNo Comments

James Webb: Space telescope reveals ‘incredible’ Jupiter views

Science

NASA/ESA/CSA/Jupiter ERS Team/Judy SchmidtThe world's largest and most powerful space telescope has revealed unprecedented views of Jupiter. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took the pictures of the Solar System's biggest planet in July. The images show auroras, giant storms, moons and rings surrounding Jupiter in detail that astronomers have described as "incredible".The infrared images were artificially coloured to make the features stand out.This is because infrared light is invisible to the human eye."We've never seen Jupiter like this. It's all quite incredible," said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, of the University of California, who played a key role in the project."We hadn't really expected it to be this good, to be honest," she added.The $ 10bn (£8.5bn) JWST is an intern...

Jan42022 by adminNo Comments

James Webb telescope begins crucial sun shield tensioning

Science

Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The James Webb Space Telescope began one of the most complicated parts of its deployment Monday as NASA sent commands to fully extend the first layer of the observatory's critical five-layer sunshield. The $ 10 billion space telescope -- the largest and most powerful in history -- still is in the first half of its 29-day deployment schedule as it flies through space to a position over one million miles from Earth. Mission controllers worked through two minor issues Sunday that could have degraded performance of the spacecraft over time, according to NASA. But the agency said the space telescope was never in danger and the extra day allowed it to return Webb to optimal performance. On Tuesday and Wednesday, NASA intends to extend the remaining five layers of the shield, whi...

Mar82021 by adminNo Comments

Officials seeking answers to Puerto Rico telescope collapse

Technology

The National Science Foundation says it could cost up to $ 50 million just to clean up the debris at a renowned radio telescope that collapsed last year in Puerto RicoBy DÁNICA COTO Associated PressMarch 5, 2021, 9:30 PM• 3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The National Science Foundation said Friday that it could cost up to $ 50 million just to clean up the debris at a renowned radio telescope that collapsed last year in Puerto Rico, adding that investigations into what caused its cables to fail are still ongoing.The update is part of a report that the federal agency, which owns the telescope, had to submit to Congress as the investigation continues into the Arecibo telescope. It was until recently the world’s largest radio telescope and w...

Nov22020 by adminNo Comments

Hubble Telescope used to study rare metal asteroid

Technology

An asteroid made of iron and nickel first discovered in 1852 could have been a protoplanet, according to scientists.The Hubble Space Telescope was used to study the asteroid, named 16 Psyche, during two points in its rotation. Dr Tracy Becker, a scientist from the Southwest Research Institute, said: "We've seen meteorites that are mostly metal, but Psyche could be unique in that it might be an asteroid that is totally made of iron and nickel." Image: NASA plan to study the asteroid in a 2026 mission. Pic: Maxar/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech She added: "Earth has a metal core, a mantle and crust. It's possible that as a Psyche protoplanet was forming, it was struck by another object in our solar system and lost its mantle and crust."Fi...