The Space Thread -

treitz3

These are called "Jellyfish Sprites". They last only a fraction of a second.

If you see a thunderstorm in the distance late at night, look at the sky above the clouds and watch closely. You might just glimpse a sprite. Stephen Hummel, a dark sky specialist at the University of Texas at Austin, photographed a red jellyfish sprite on July 2 (above) from the McDonald Observatory in Texas. The bright red formation appears to float between 28 and 55 miles high in the atmosphere, with a dispersed red cap and a flurry of tentacles underneath.

Sprites are a type of transient luminous event, like lightning, but fainter, faster and significantly larger.

Hummel spotted his sprite from about 100 miles away at 1:30 AM, he tells Atlas Obscura. The storm also needs to be making a lot of lightning. The Great Plains during the spring provides great opportunities to catch sprites.

One of the best images I have ran across so far is (it is rumored that this is a 15 second exposure time) this stunning image of a MASSIVE series of Jellyfish sprites taken by Paul Wilson images from the Banks Peninsula in New Zealand. As of this moment, I do not think he actually knows what he photographed…



Tom

NotaSuv

After 6 months of prep work the James Webb telescope will be sending pictures back to Earth......this is a HUGE event as we will getting some spectacular from Space. It was launched on Christmas Day

The James Webb Space Telescope has almost completed commissioning and will release its first operational images July 12. Next comes a program of early science, including an investigation of the Trapezium Cluster, a stellar nursery in the Orion Nebula some 1,350 light-years from Earth.

The cluster is packed with gas and dust and includes about 1,000 young stars jam-packed into an area just four light-years across, officials with the Webb consortium said in a statement.

The stars are also quite young (around a million years old) compared with the 4.5-billion-year-old sun. While the star at the center of our solar system is in its midlife, Trapezium's stars are still toddlers, only about three or four days old.

"Astronomers using the Webb telescope will study this cluster to understand stars and their planetary systems in the very earliest stages [of their evolution]," officials wrote in a 2020 statement about the Trapezium study.

treitz3

That's right. A HUGE event is an understatement! In less than 48 hours, we will see the very first real time images coming from the James Webb telescope.

You can 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

If you are only interested in the images, they can be found here (when released) - https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

Here is an alternate link, in case the website gets bogged down from traffic - https://webbtelescope.org/news/first-images

I haven't looked this forward to anything space related in quite some time!

Tom

NotaSuv

Agree 100% ^^

treitz3

Here is another teaser shot from the James Webb telescope. While this was released last week sometime, they had extra bandwidth to send back another test image (most bandwidth is used for testing, calibrating, the highest quality scientific data and images that are generally not to be released to the public). I'm sure some of you have seen this one before, even though it just recently came out.



"The researchers collected 72 exposures from FGS over 32 hours and combined them into this image which shows stars in the foreground and a sea of bright galaxies in the background. Although the image is, as NASA describes, "rough-around-the-edges," with diffraction spikes of stars caused by Webb's primary mirror segments and an uneven shape because of the different exposures, it is one of the deepest views of the universe yet captured. The very high sensitivity of the instrument allows it to see galaxies even if they are very far away.

The image was captured in the infrared wavelength, as this is the wavelength in which all of Webb's instruments operate, and the FGS specifically took data for this image in the 0.6 to 5 micrometer range. The FGS doesn't capture images in color, so the red-orange appearance is a false-color effect: white objects are the brightest, then orange, then red (via NASA).

The image shows just how detailed the Webb images are expected to be when they are released, and gives a hint at the kinds of science that the telescope will enable, such as looking back at some of the earliest galaxies in the universe. It would appear that image data from the FGS may be useful beyond its primary intended function."

Now, if one were to look up in the sky at night, the image above would be the photographic size equivalent of just a fraction of a single grain of sand seen at a distance of (I am guessing here) maybe two feet away from your eyeballs. Think about that and how many grains of sand it would take to fill the nighttime sky from just two feet away. Each grain of sand would have multiples of photos just like the one above. Now imagine if you were floating out in space (if this were possible) and you could get a 360° view of space with no obstructions.....and think about just how many grains of sand it would take to obstruct your view.

It's mind blowing just how big our world is to us (especially when we go to travel somewhere), yet how small and truly insignificant we really are in the grand scheme of things. The song by Kansas, "All we are is dust in the wind" comes to mind....

There may even be more galaxies out there beyond what this telescope/image picks up. Now just think about how many suns are in our own galaxy and look at the amount of galaxies within that tiny fraction of a grain of sand image above.

For anyone to think that we are the only form of life in this truly vast abyss would be naive.

Tom

nooshinjohn

I heard somewhere that the Webb has already given scientists years' worth of data to study and much of that will change what we know about the Cosmos. The amazing thing is that it's work has not even begun.

treitz3

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The amazing thing is that it's work has not even begun.

No doubt!

So, I was curious because I had forgotten and went to look up how many stars are in our own galaxy. No one knows the "actual" number but to put things into perspective (and we are a small to medium sized galaxy), we have between 100 to 400 BILLION stars in the Milky Way. The largest known galaxy (IC 1101) is said to have 100 trillion stars.

Now take another look at the photo again (below or above) taken by the James Webb telescope. There are probably 800 galaxies within that one image. (fraction of a grain of sand....)



Tom

VR3

It sounds like the universe is tiny and we are obviously the only sentient beings in it

nooshinjohn

There may be other life out there that considers us no more intelligent than a circus flea.

NotaSuv

Tuesday the Space Center is hosting a party open to the public to come out and see the photos. Hoping to get a ticket tomorrow as we are close to KSC

Be among the first to see the first images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) by joining us for a watch party in the Universe Theater on July 12 at 10:30 AM. JWST launched from the European Space Agency (ESA) Launch Facility in Kourou, French Guiana in 2021, and soon, NASA will be conducting a live telecast releasing the first findings of this powerful telescope. Get out of the heat and watch the livestream from the Universe Theater. This watch party is included with admission.

tonyp063

I work with/for a bunch of astrophysicists associated with this.
They are *giddy* !! (and bloody impatient buggers)

This is going to be an amazing bit of science for a generation of humanity.
Like Hubble was for some. Or Apollo.

Viking64

What a great day to be alive!

treitz3

Wow! Even sharper than the other one! Within this "grain of sand" are thousands of galaxies, not approximately 800 (As I guessed earlier).



NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed details of the Southern Ring planetary nebula that were previously hidden from astronomers. Planetary nebulae are the shells of gas and dust ejected from dying stars. Webb’s powerful infrared view brings this nebula’s second star into full view, along with exceptional structures created as the stars shape the gas and dust around them.

New details like these, from the late stages of a star’s life, will help us better understand how stars evolve and transform their environments. These images also reveal a cache of distant galaxies in the background. Most of the multi-colored points of light seen here are galaxies – not stars.



Tom

mhardy6647

It is cool to think about the fact that those galaxies are so far away, and receding from us so fast that the light they emitted is red shifted all of the way from the visible into the infrared.

It's a mindf**k, it is.

NotaSuv

breathtaking to say the least.....this is beyond words.................

mrbigbluelight

The amount of matter and energy rhat is contained in that extremely small slice of sky is simply.....😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲

I tried to recall what i've heard in the past regarding the size of the universe at the time of the Big Bang but couldn't remember. Lukily the Interwebs were available

"Today, we can say that the Universe got no hotter, at the hottest part of the hot Big Bang, than about ~10¹⁵ GeV in terms of energy. That places a cutoff on how far you can extrapolate the hot Big Bang backwards: to a time of ~10^-35 seconds and a distance scale of ~1.5 meters. The Universe, at the earliest stages we can ascribe a “size” to it, could have been no smaller than roughly the size of a human being. "
😯😳😱🤯

All that matter and energy crushed into such a small area !
So hot that it's too hot to cause nuclear fusion
Absolutely.... mind.... blowing. 😵💥
.




https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/how-small-was-the-universe-at-the-start-of-the-big-bang/

treitz3

Here is a shot of Hubble's capabilities versus the James Webb telescope....the Hubble's image is on top....



This structure, which NASA calls the Cosmic Cliffs, is actually the inner edge of NGC 3324, aka the Carina Nebula. Ultraviolet radiation and strong stellar winds from a dying star – located well above the top of frame in this image – is carving these structures into the clouds of dust and gas that are busily forming new stars.

Thanks to its infrared vision, the Webb image on the bottom reveals for the first time many of these baby stars shining through the dust, with the youngest visible as red dots in the darkest parts of the cloud.

Tom

jdjohn

The orbit of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is very interesting. It is in a Halo orbit at Lagrange point 2, or L2, which is about 1 million miles away from the Earth, about 4X farther than the Moon. In essence, JWST is orbiting the Sun (solar orbit), not the Earth, although the Earth's gravity does assist, keeping the telescope (somewhat) close to us. This is compared to Hubble, which is in a concentric, Earth orbit, about 330 miles above our planet.

Here's an animation of the JWST orbit.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/6cUe4oMk69E?list=TLGG8tIphgpDAHkxMzA3MjAyMg

And here's a link with more information about the orbit https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/orbit.html

Since the temperature out there was mentioned earlier in this thread, that webpage also has a graphic about the temperature out there at L2, stating that on the sunny side of the telescope, the temp is +185F, but on the shady side, it is -388F.

It's amazing that a device can function with that much of a difference in temp on either side.

mhardy6647

mrbigbluelight wrote: »

The amount of matter and energy rhat is contained in that extremely small slice of sky is simply.....😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲

I tried to recall what i've heard in the past regarding the size of the universe at the time of the Big Bang but couldn't remember. Lukily the Interwebs were available

"Today, we can say that the Universe got no hotter, at the hottest part of the hot Big Bang, than about ~10¹⁵ GeV in terms of energy. That places a cutoff on how far you can extrapolate the hot Big Bang backwards: to a time of ~10^-35 seconds and a distance scale of ~1.5 meters. The Universe, at the earliest stages we can ascribe a “size” to it, could have been no smaller than roughly the size of a human being. "
😯😳😱🤯

All that matter and energy crushed into such a small area !
So hot that it's too hot to cause nuclear fusion
Absolutely.... mind.... blowing. 😵💥
.




https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/how-small-was-the-universe-at-the-start-of-the-big-bang/

Note that the graph is a double logarithmic plot -- i.e., that inflection point in the curve is... pretty darned intense.

VR3

The images are insane, engineering marvel for sure

nooshinjohn

"The Universe, at the earliest stages we can ascribe a “size” to it, could have been no smaller than roughly the size of a human being. "

The God Particle perhaps?

Emlyn

One of the better documentaries I've seen so far that puts the new telescope into perspective with other space observation efforts from the past and future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jT_Zui1Am8

ken brydson

pitdogg2

Ain't that the truth Ken.

treitz3

Tom

jdjohn

nooshinjohn wrote: »

"The Universe, at the earliest stages we can ascribe a “size” to it, could have been no smaller than roughly the size of a human being. "

The God Particle perhaps?

The Big Bang 'Theory'* (i.e., not proven) does not disagree with the Biblical Creation Account of 'in the beginning'. Everything has a beginning.

*Scientific theories are different from laws. Laws are observable and repeatable. No humans were around to observe the Big Bang, and we certainly can't repeat it.

treitz3

Gentlemen, the discussion of religion is verboten on this forum. Getting into the differences between the scientific and religious theories of how this all came to be is a great way to get this thread shut down.

John and Jody, I know you meant know harm but all it takes is one post to completely derail a thread. It started with John's post which lead to Jody's post. We don't know what will come next but let's lose the religious aspect of this discussion please. That can create a very toxic atmosphere.

If one feels so inclined to discuss how the universe/space all started, please start another thread about the beginning and I will be happy to join in on the discussion. Please, just don't do it here. Thanks.

Tom

treitz3

Okay, back to the topic. Apparently, the images you see above (the ones that were just released) are 150 million pixels of resolution.

The image of Stephan's Quintet is actually a mosaic piece made up of 1,000 separate images and is currently the largest photograph taken to date from the James Webb telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be slapped by at least one meteorite per month for the rest of its life. Notably, NASA stated in early June that its next-generation space telescope was struck by a micrometeorite in May, and that the impact didn't cause any significant damage. However, over time NASA estimates that micrometeorite impacts will reduce the total lifespan on if the observatory.

So far, Webb has been smacked by five micrometeorites, with the fifth being the most recent and the largest. When Webb was being designed, engineers knew the large observatory would be prone to fast-moving dust particles impacting the mirrors, which is why they took a large amount of time testing how much Webb's mirrors could endure micrometeorite impacts.

According to estimations, on average, Webb will be hit with one micrometeorite per month, and after 10 years, only 0.1% of the primary mirror would be damaged. Webb has an anticipated lifespan of 20 years.

Has anyone found when they will release the next series of images?

Tom

ken brydson

Tony M

ken brydson wrote: »

I think one has to be over the age of 50 to understand this picture.