Nasa space telescope delivers spectacular pictures

[hunter]

Stunning images of a "stellar nursery" and a "cosmic dance" have been acquired by Nasa's new $10bn space telescope.

The James Webb observatory, billed as the successor to the famous Hubble telescope, is showcasing its first full-colour pictures of the cosmos.

US President Joe Biden gave a teaser on Monday, with the release of a photo depicting very far-off galaxies.

Scientists on the project are following up with further images that demonstrate Webb's diverse capabilities.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62140044

Too many news sources to choose from, I thought this was a good one.

[rsdsharp]

1. Has anyone, ANYWHERE, published the picture of the planet?

I’ve seen it referenced in multiple articles, but not one image.

[hunter]

2. There are no pictures.

We know these planets exist when they eclipse their stars, causing a dimming, and by several other methods. Actually photographing a planetary disk at stellar distances would require an impossibly large telescope.

The atmosphere of this planet can be detected by spectroscopy.

If you measure the composition of the star from its spectrum when the planet is behind it, and again when the planet in front of it, one can infer the planet's atmospheric composition by the difference. On this planet they detected water vapor.

[rsdsharp]

3. Then they shouldn't use language like this:

NASA reveals Webb telescope's new images of stars, galaxies and an exoplanet

A stellar nursery where stars are born, interactions between galaxies and a unique view of an exoplanet are just some of the new cosmic images were shared Tuesday


From a CNN article.

[hunter]

4. It is an image, but maybe not in the common parlance.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-reveals-steamy-atmosphere-of-distant-planet-in-detail

It's all downloaded from the telescope as binary numbers which can be assembled into photographs or charts like this. All are "images."

This doesn't detract from the actual science!