James Webb Space Telescope, information, updates and discussion |
James Webb Space Telescope, information, updates and discussion |
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#201
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 134 Joined: 13-March 05 Member No.: 191 ![]() |
The manufacture of the JWST mirror blanks has now been completed.
Despite this milestone, the fate of JWST is still somewhat precarious, because although the scientific bang from the telescope is expected to be huge, the bucks required have increased to a staggering $4.5 billion. A Space.com article on the squeeze in NASA's space-based astronomy plans gives some background. The JWST home page can be found here. The Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs Hubble, also has a site here. As does ESA. |
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#202
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Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2998 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 ![]() |
Ian, remember this is a NIR view of Neptune, and the rings/ring arcs may look different at those wavelenghts. I've not noticed anything more on this.
--Bill -------------------- |
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#203
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 237 Joined: 14-January 22 Member No.: 9140 ![]() |
On Europa and Enceladus, which will be studied for plume signatures, for the first of certainly more than one time, in November and December:
I'm curious about JWST's ability to identify the signature of complex organics, and how calibration work would even be performed to determine their spectra. With a somewhat unconstrained number of possible organic compounds to look for, that seems like a lot of laboratory work involving unusual conditions to develop a catalog of reference spectra. This would seem like a need that has perhaps never existed before, but will be needed for interpreting JWST spectra of many objects, including Titan, comets, nebulae, exoplanet atmospheres, protoplanetary discs, and maybe more. One may think of Europa's and Enceladus's plumes as two more "exo"planet atmospheres for JWST to study. It's interesting to note that JWST will provide a kind of data that even missions that visit those worlds will not. Maybe we'll see the spectra published in 2023, but understanding them seems like it could be a long game. |
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