Far out: NASA space telescope's 1st cosmic view goes deep
Washington(AP): Our view of the universe just expanded: The first image from NASA's new space telescope unveiled Monday is brimming with galaxies and offers the deepest look of the cosmos ever captured.
The first image from the 10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance, closer to the dawn of time and the edge of the universe. That image will be followed Tuesday by the release of four more galactic beauty shots from the telescope's initial outward gazes.
The deep field" image released at a White House event is filled with lots of stars, with massive galaxies in the foreground and faint and extremely distant galaxies peeking through here and there. Part of the image is light from not too long after the Big Bang, which was 13.8 billion years ago.
Seconds before he unveiled it, President Joe Biden marveled at the image he said showed the oldest documented light in the history of the universe from over 13 billion -- let me say that again -- 13 billion years ago. It's hard to fathom.
The busy image with hundreds of specks, streaks, spirals and swirls of white, yellow, orange and red is only one little speck of the universe, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
The pictures on tap for Tuesday include a view of a giant gaseous planet outside our solar system, two images of a nebula where stars are born and die in spectacular beauty and an update of a classic image of five tightly clustered galaxies that dance around each other.
The world's biggest and most powerful space telescope rocketed away last December from French Guiana in South America. It reached its lookout point 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth in January. Then the lengthy process began to align the mirrors, get the infrared detectors cold enough to operate and calibrate the science instruments, all protected by a sunshade the size of a tennis court that keeps the telescope cool.
The plan is to use the telescope to peer back so far that scientists will get a glimpse of the early days of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus.
Webb is considered the successor to the highly successful, but aging Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble has stared as far back as 13.4 billion years. It found the light wave signature of an extremely bright galaxy in 2016. Astronomers measure how far back they look in light-years with one light-year being 5.8 trillion miles (9.3 trillion kilometers).
Webb can see backwards in time to just after the Big Bang by looking for galaxies that are so far away that the light has taken many billions of years to get from those galaxies to our telescopes, said Jonathan Gardner, Webb's deputy project scientist said during the media briefing.
How far back did that first image look? Over the next few days, astronomers will do intricate calculations to figure out just how old those galaxies are, project scientist Klaus Pontoppidan said last month.
The image is spectacularly deeper (than a similar one taken by Hubble), but it's unclear how far back we're looking,? Richard Ellis, professor of astrophysics at University College London, said by email. More info is needed.
The deepest view of the cosmos is not a record that will stand for very long, Pontoppidan said, since scientists are expected to use the Webb telescope to go even deeper.
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's science mission chief said when he saw the images he got emotional and so did his colleagues: It's really hard to not look at the universe in new light and not just have a moment that is deeply personal.
At 21 feet (6.4 meters), Webb's gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror is the biggest and most sensitive ever sent into space. It's comprised of 18 segments, one of which was smacked by a bigger than anticipated micrometeoroid in May. Four previous micrometeoroid strikes to the mirror were smaller. Despite the impacts, the telescope has continued to exceed mission requirements, with barely any data loss, according to NASA.
NASA is collaborating on Webb with the European and Canadian space agencies.
I'm now really excited as this dramatic progress augurs well for reaching the ultimate prize for many astronomers like myself: pinpointing Cosmic Dawn the moment when the universe was first bathed in starlight, Ellis said.
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Assembly Polls: Kerala CM hits back at 'CPM-BJP deal' charge by Congress
Thiruvalla (Kerala)(PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday alleged that a tacit understanding between the Congress and the BJP had paved the way for the saffron party's victory in Nemom during the 2016 Assembly elections, as he rejected fresh Opposition claims of a "CPM-BJP deal" in multiple constituencies.
While addressing a press conference here, Vijayan rejected allegations raised by the Congress that the CPI(M) and the BJP had struck an understanding in around 10 seats, including Palakkad in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Turning the tables on the Congress, the chief minister said the party had a history of entering into secret ties with the BJP and pointed to Nemom in 2016 as a key example.
He alleged that a significant drop in Congress votes in the constituency had helped the BJP secure its only seat in the Assembly, describing it as part of a "deliberate political arrangement" to ensure the victory of another party candidate in a different segment.
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"The Left parties, especially the CPI(M) has always adopted an uncompromising stand against the RSS and the BJP. No one can deny this," the veteran claimed.
Vijayan further accused the Congress and its leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, of acting as a "B team" of the BJP in various political contexts.
Referring to political developments in Delhi, he claimed that the Congress workers had burst crackers to celebrate the arrest of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that the party chose to oppose the AAP rather than unite against the ruling dispensation.
He also said attempts to establish links with the RSS were made by the Congress in the past, while asserting that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had consistently maintained a firm stand against both the RSS and the BJP.
Recalling the alleged "Co-Le-B" alliance in the past, Vijayan said such alignments were ultimately rejected by the electorate.
The "Co-Le-B" alliance--referring to the Congress, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and the BJP--is a political allegation often raised by the CPI(M) in Kerala. It is used to suggest a secret understanding among these parties, aimed at working together strategically to defeat the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in elections in the past.
Maintaining that the current allegations of a CPM-BJP deal would not stand scrutiny, the chief minister said the Congress had failed to bring together opposition forces in several parts of the country to effectively counter the BJP.
The controversy comes in the wake of claims by Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, who recently alleged that the CPI(M) and BJP had an understanding in about 10 constituencies, including Palakkad, in the April 9 assembly polls.
Meanwhile, Vijayan said Kerala's financial situation had shown improvement, citing increased tax and non-tax revenues.
However, he alleged that the state was being denied its rightful share by the Centre and accused the BJP-led union government of attempting to hinder development activities.
He added that Kerala had nonetheless achieved notable development despite these challenges.
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