On December 25,
2021, when NASA sent the James Webb Space Telescope, which had been developed
almost 21 years, to its destination in space, at that time, the eyes of every
person in the world were drawn to it because it was not an ordinary telescope,
but a time machine. There is a machine with the help of which we can remove the
veil from many secrets of space.
In the beginning,
our universe was much hotter and denser but as it cooled, the electrons in it
interacted with the nucleus After which the first atom
was formed and in a few million years the first star
and galaxy
began to appear in the universe. But till today no one knows how these stars
and galaxies are formed and seeing this, scientists have built a time machine
called the James Webb Space Telescope for the last 21 years at a cost of $10
billion, which will solve the secrets of the formation of stars
and the universe.
If we look at the
earth from a distance of about 6.6 light-years in space with the help of a
powerful telescope, we will see dinosaurs walking on the earth. It must be a
little difficult to see the Earth from such a great distance but a very
powerful telescope can make this easier and the nearby James Webb telescope is
not only hundreds of times more powerful than the Hubble telescope, but it is
much larger than the Hubble. This telescope works on the infrared spectrum,
with the help of which we can see the formation of stars near dust clouds by
measuring infrared radiation. According to Albert Einstein's special theory of
relativity, just as the distance between anybody in our universe expands, light
also expands. Because of this, when the light coming from the first star and galaxy
comes to us, it also undergoes the expansion process and the light coming from
it also becomes infrared, which is called the Red Shift.
Whenever we look at the night sky, the light coming to us from the stars and galaxies there is expanding every time. And it is either completely invisible or the light is bent to such an extent that we cannot see it.
A question that
arises is that if we cannot see this light, then how can the James Webb
telescope see it? The answer is that this telescope has a very large mirror
that will increase the amount of light collected. As a result, the telescope
will have a detailed picture of stars and galaxies. The mirror is made up of 18
hexagonal pieces of 4.3 in diameter. Due to this it will wrap it on the earth
and send it into space and open it there.
There are four main
instruments inside this telescope, one of which is the Near-Infrared Camera
(NIRCam) which is the main imaging tool of this telescope and has a detector
that Helps detect light from early stars and galaxies. This NIRCam is equipped
with a chronographer, with the help of which scientists can not only find more
inclined stars and galaxies but can also get images of exoplanets outside the
solar system. Although these NIRCams are not advanced enough to tell us the
physical properties of planets outside the solar system, another instrument
called the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) has been installed in this
telescope. Which works with the range of NIRCam and studies the spectrum of
light emitted by anybody and tells about its mass, temperature, and chemical
composition.
As the atoms
and molecules of anybody leave their marks or effects on the spectral band in
the form of black lines, but to detect the faintest light in space, the
telescope needs to stay close to the body for several days. This process can
take many years and solve this problem, the James Webb telescope uses a much
improved and innovative technology that provides simultaneous multi-body
spectroscopy within NIRSpec. And this spectroscopy is called Micro Starter
System.
As the amount of
light in space is very high, the telescope has to continuously look at
different targets to get the relevant light, which is also helped by the Fine
Guidance Sensor (FGS). Sometimes the view of galaxies and stars
becomes blurred due to dust clouds. As Near-Infrared light cannot pass through
it so a tool called Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) has been installed in it. It
contains both a camera and a spectrograph, although the MIRI instrument is very
different from other instruments because it works at different ranges of
infrared light and detects these long wavelength waves, which can be crossed
even through thick dust clouds.
The sensors
installed in it are so advanced that with their help, galaxies at a long
distance, newly formed stars, and comets can be easily detected. And seeing the
benefit of MIRI, scientists have installed a cooling system called CRYOCOOLER
in it. Because as soon as the temperature of the necessary tools goes beyond
266.5 degrees Celsius, then it will start to be affected by its heat.
As you know, the
James Webb telescope is also threatened by heat from the Sun, Moon, and
Earth so, engineers developed a cooling system called the Sun Shield, which
helps protect the telescope from this radiant heat. With the help of the sun,
shield Scientists have placed the James Webb telescope at Lagrange point 2, approximately
15 million kilometers from Earth. Because at this point, the force of gravity
helps anybody to stay in its place.
The Capabilities of
the James Webb Telescope:
This telescope will
acquire information about distant stars and planets, as well as information
about the structure of the visible rings of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the
invisible rings of Jupiter in our solar system. and a detailed analysis of the
atmospheres of planets outside the solar system.
The
famous physicist Michio Kaku thinks that with the help of this telescope we can
meet an ancient civilization. In addition, we can solve many such mysteries of
the universe with the formation of galaxies and planets. That will completely
change our understanding of science today.
Read Also: