Nearly Three Years Since Launch, Webb Is a Hit Among Astronomers (arstechnica.com) 11
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.
Five years? (Score:1)
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.
We can be thankful for a five-year shelf life? We design fucking smartphones to last longer than five years. For the money we spent on this, we better be able to rename it the James Webb Voyager Space Telescope in another 30 years.
It took five years to deploy the damn thing. After it was built. Sure as hell hope it outlasts the 20+ years it took to get here.
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:Five years? (Score:4, 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)
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: (Score:2)
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:2)
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