Nearly Three Years Since Launch, Webb Is a Hit Among Astronomers (arstechnica.com) 30
The James Webb Space Telescope has made groundbreaking discoveries, detecting the most distant galaxy yet and capturing an image of the closest directly-imaged exoplanet. "Judging by astronomers' interest in using Webb, there are many more to come," writes Ars Technica's Stephen Clark. With immense demand for observation time, Webb is set to explore a vast array of cosmic targets -- from early galaxies to exoplanet atmospheres -- offering insights that extend far beyond Hubble's reach. From the report: The Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates Webb on behalf of NASA and its international partners, said last week that it received 2,377 unique proposals from science teams seeking observing time on the observatory. The institute released a call for proposals earlier this year for the so-called "Cycle 4" series of observations with Webb. This volume of proposals represents around 78,000 hours of observing time with Webb, nine times more than the telescope's available capacity for scientific observations in this cycle. The previous observing cycle had a similar "oversubscription rate" but had less overall observing time available to the science community.
More than 600 scientists will review the proposals and select the most promising ones for time on Webb. The largest share of proposals would involve observing "high-redshift" galaxies among the first generation of galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. Galaxies this old and distant have their light stretched to longer wavelengths due to the expansion of the Universe. Research involving exoplanet atmospheres and stars and stellar populations were the second- and third-most popular science categories in this cycle. [...] It seems astronomers have no shortage of ideas about where to look. Maybe one day, new super heavy-lift rockets or advancements in in-space assembly will make it possible to deploy space telescopes even more sensitive than Webb. Until then, we can be thankful that Webb is performing well and has a good shot of far outliving its original five-year design life. Let's continue enjoying the show.
More than 600 scientists will review the proposals and select the most promising ones for time on Webb. The largest share of proposals would involve observing "high-redshift" galaxies among the first generation of galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. Galaxies this old and distant have their light stretched to longer wavelengths due to the expansion of the Universe. Research involving exoplanet atmospheres and stars and stellar populations were the second- and third-most popular science categories in this cycle. [...] It seems astronomers have no shortage of ideas about where to look. Maybe one day, new super heavy-lift rockets or advancements in in-space assembly will make it possible to deploy space telescopes even more sensitive than Webb. Until then, we can be thankful that Webb is performing well and has a good shot of far outliving its original five-year design life. Let's continue enjoying the show.
Next gen - Nancy Grace (Score:5, Informative)
The next major space telescope will be the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope [wikipedia.org], scheduled to launch in 2027.
Like JWST, it will be parked at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point.
Re: (Score:2)
Like JWST, it will be parked at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point.
I wonder, how many telescopes (or other spacecraft) can the L2 Lagrange point comfortably hold? I assume quite a few, but presumably not an infinite number.
Re: (Score:2)
You don't actually "park" anything at a Lagrange point, you orbit it. It's an enormous volume of space.
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It is not really infinite, obviously, but for all practical purposes, I think we can do as if it was.
JWST is not exactly at L2, but it orbits around it at an average distance of about 500000 km and a period of 168 days. Other object have orbits in similar orders of magnitude. Not only that but L2 is not stable, so without station keeping, these objects will naturally be kicked out. By comparison there are tens of thousands of objects in low earth orbit, all within a few 100s of km at about 7000km from the c
Benefits to citizens for the expense? (Score:1)
What benefits do ordinary citizens get from the large taxpayer funded science welfare projects?
Where's the cost benefit of these projects versus spending the same money on sending a thousand or more low income students to college for STEM degrees?
STEM in this case also includes biology, pre-med, chemistry, etc. and all of the sciences the media and academic researchers leave out when producing and reporting on agenda research showing 'under-representation of group X in STEM'.
Re: (Score:2)
Ordinary citizens benefit from it by seeing nice pictures and maybe get a better understanding of the universe around us. And who knows, maybe something genuinely useful in day to day life can come up from these observations. It may not seem like much, but it is a net positive, that much can't be said of many human activities.
As for the building of the telescope itself, it gets a lot of smart people to work together on a state-of-the-art engineering project, with repercussions on the whole tech world. Maybe
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds exactly like the often criticized Trickle Down Economics but for science instead of economics.
Build a complex telescope with lots of advanced engineering and maybe just maybe one of those engineers will go onto an future project with significant benefits to ordinary citizens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Google - "criticisms of trickle down economics"
I'm in favor of science on principle, with the check that taxpayer funded government spending programs need to be ranked and have a cost/benefit to t
Re:Five years? (Score:5, Insightful)
hope it outlasts the 20+ years it took to get here.
Unlikely.
L2, unlike L3 and L4, is not stable.
JWST expends fuel to stay on station and move between aiming points.
The IR instruments are cooled with liquid helium, which slowly leaks away.
The fuel and helium limit the useful lifetime of the telescope.
The fuel can be conserved by carefully scheduling missions to minimize movement, which is an NP-hard problem isomorphic to solving the traveling salesman problem.
Re: (Score:1)
How well do our best approximation (guessing) algorithms do against a perfect (or near so) solution to such scheduling problems?
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How well do our best approximation (guessing) algorithms do against a perfect (or near so) solution to such scheduling problems?
Hmmm. Interesting question. I've had a few run-ins with the TSP -- it is a rite-of-passage for CS majors. :) With that said, how close do our best guesses get to a perfect solution? It depends on the algorithm and the problem specifics. There are a couple of ways to measure this:
Approximation Ratio: This is the worst-case measure of how close an approximation is to the optimal. For example, Christofides’ Algorithm can guarantee a route that’s no more than 1.5 tim
Re: (Score:1)
That's a good point: in some cases you want to limit the worst-case scenario, in others you want the best average even if it lays an egg every now and then.
Another interesting issue with scheduling JWST's views is micrometeoroids. Certain angles cause statistically more risk than others, and the angles change based on orbital positions. And they have to consider sun position to avoid glare.
Five years is pessimistic (was Re:Five years?) (Score:3, Informative)
Your points have a basis in real concerns, but NASA has already taken careful measures to conserve fuel and extend JWST’s operational lifetime, so your overall pessimism may be somewhat overstated.
L2 is not stable.
True, L2 is a quasi-stable point. JWST needs small periodic adjustments to stay in its orbit. This location was chosen because it’s optimal for infrared observations, minimizing interference from Earth. The fuel requirement here is modest and was anticipated in the mission design.
JWST expends fuel to stay on station and move between aiming points.
Partially correct. Wh
Re:Five years? (Score:5, Informative)
It cost $10 Billion according to https://www.google.com/url?sa=... [google.com]
Development started in 2003, it became operational in Jul. 22 and is expected to last us 5.5 years for its primary mission (I think that duration is because another telescope is somewhere in development), it is planned for 10 yrs of operation, and has a 20 yrs expected life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Looks like your pessimism is built on nothing at all.
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
The current administration has got nothing to do with project 2025.
That's because the current administration is the Biden administration. Take another look at the end of January.
Re:However (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes!
Always remember that the 2020 election was 'stolen', dishonest, unfair and full of cheating! (or maybe it was 'Stollen")
Also the 2024 election was fair, honest, with no cheating whatsoever.
Of course, this means that the election Trump was in charge of in 2020 was stolen and dishonest, but the election Biden was in charge of in 2024 was honest and fair.
Hmm... :)
Re: (Score:3)
Obviously, this is the whole point of influencers pushing the flat earth conspiracy!
The Earth is round, but hollow with the land of Argatha located inside at the center. This is the land of the Lizard people, as you can learn from the 1959 documentary film about a group of scientists who explored it. The 1975 documentary detailing a land forgotten by time also deals with Argatha. This records the experiences of team that wandered into Argatha by going through the openings at the poles of the globe didn't
Re: (Score:1)
Sure. And Taylor Swift's recent tour was a huge flop because not everyone who wanted to see her could get tickets.