The James Webb Space Telescope, operated by NASA, has completed another important mirror alignment phase and has published the highest quality infrared picture yet obtained by a space telescope.
The James Webb Orbit Telescope captured its first images in space less than two months after it was launched. In the constellation Ursa Major, the photos were obtained of HD84406, which exhibited Webb’s 18 mirror segments, which were not yet aligned to produce a single distinct image. For the last two months, scientists working on Webb have been making minor tweaks to the mirror alignments in order to obtain a single, unified picture from the telescope’s NIRCam sensor, also known as the main imager.
According to NASA, the “fine phasing” step of alignment was completed on March 11th, the 2ns of seven progressively minuscule phases in the alignment process. Despite the fact that this important step is quite near to the final phases of alignment, a few minor changes will still be required. In order to align the sections within a few nanometers, ground control personnel have been collaborating for months to achieve this goal. It is possible that all of Webb’s equipment will not be completely tuned and ready for use until the late summer of 2022.
However, when the fine phasing process was completed, a fresh shot from deep space was captured and given to the public. Webb’s alignment will need to be tweaked in the near future, but NASA says that this shot of the star 2MASS J17554042+6551277, obtained with Webb’s mirror segments in almost perfect synchronization, is the highest-resolution image yet captured in space.
An explanation of why JWST is working much better than planned was provided by NASA in a statement. It was reported that every optical metric that had been reviewed and tested was operating at or above expectations, according to the report. In addition, the researchers discovered no major concerns, as well as no quantifiable contaminants or obstructions in Webb’s optical path. The observatory is capable of effectively collecting light from distant objects and delivering it to its equipment without encountering any difficulties.
