NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope instruments are aligned and the first experimental images of stars show that the instrument’s science instruments are now producing sharp images.
The James Webb alignment has been completed, according to NASA, allowing the telescope to move through the next phase and begin real science work in the summer. to clarify NASA publishes test images Captured with various tools, including detail to demonstrate the sharpness of the images.
For the test, NASA pointed the telescope at the Large Magellanic Cloud, a relatively small galaxy in the Milky Way. Each tool created its own part of the system. These are images of the three instruments NIRCam, Niriss, and MIRI, each recording separate wavelengths. Then there is NIRSpec, a spectrometer that can also take pictures for calibration purposes. Finally, NASA shows an image of the Precision Orientation Sensor, which has two star-tracking sensors, but can also take pictures for calibration.
The test images are not only intended to determine sharpness, but also to measure sensor alignment as part of the calibration procedure. The next step for NASA is to equip all the scientific instruments. Each device has its own parts, such as lenses and filters, and settings and combinations must be adjusted for proper operation.
NASA will point the telescope at different parts of the universe in the coming time to determine thermal stability. James Webb must withstand varying amounts of radiation from the sun. The tooling procedure takes about two months. After that, James Webb could finally begin his scientific work.
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