On the night of July 12, 2022, in addition to “James Webb Space Telescope” The first five photographs of the galaxy cluster have been opened. But one more thing the team has released is the “Characterization of JWST science performance from commissioning” report, which summarizes the results of the process. commissioning that installs and tests the equipment to a ready-to-use condition
In this report, the readiness of the operations ofJames Webb Space Telescope from every angle, from the ship itself. address orbit Remaining fuel, sunshield plate, approximate life expectancy, object search and tracking system. Optical system, backlight, scattering of light inside the device. and all scientific equipment
The approximate result was that not only did the James Webb Space Telescope pass the test, But it also found that in many cases James Webb performed better than expected. and was assessed as follows:
- from the remaining fuel It is expected that there will be enough fuel to sustain the orbit for another 20 years, 10.5 years more than the previous forecast.
- Visual equipment alignment is more precise than expected. glass cleaner and the internal reflection is less than expected, etc. The result is that the observability is better than the previous specs. The image obtained during the mission during Cycle I shows a darker sky. or has less noise This means that the universe can be observed “deeper” than it was requested.
- Scientific equipment works better than expected as well. and with the same level of noise as tested on the ground. The only difference is that more cosmic rays are found in space. But it doesn’t have much effect on observations.
- The pointing and tracking system works great. and can track moving objects such as planets, moons in the solar system Asteroids are great.
To test the object tracking system, it was pointed out.James Webb Space Telescope to the region near Jupiter To test object tracking systems in the vicinity of bright stars The camera still passed the test well. In addition, a small bonus The result of this test is a picture of “Jupiter” In the infrared spectrum that we are looking at, if observed carefully will find that in addition to the moons of Jupiter. We can also observe “ring” of Jupiter as well
We may know Saturn as a planet surrounded by rings. But in fact, all gas giants in the solar system have rings. including Jupiter But Jupiter’s rings have a lower particle density. And that composition consists of rocks with a much lower reflectivity than ice in the case of Saturn. It is therefore difficult to directly observe Jupiter’s rings in the light spectrum. But this is clearly not a problem in the infrared range of the James Webb telescope, which is not intended to record Jupiter’s rings.
Currently, the most difficult factor to predict And it might determine the lifespan of the equipment on the James Webb Space Telescope. Maybe a small meteorite. These tiny meteorites are inevitable and will gradually damage the entire sunshield system or even the alignment of the optics.
Throughout the period of commissioning there is a collision of Six recorded micrometeoroid crashes, five of which were non-functional collisions. But one collision between March 22-24 on the C3 glass caused irreparable damage to the glass. But even so, it has very little effect. and less than the tolerances caused by the normal operation of other tools.
At present, we do not know whether the collision of micrometeoroid, for example, how often does this happen? But if it doesn’t happen too often The camera should be with us for a long time.
And when commissioning reports of the installation of the James Webb Space Telescope come out that it has passed successfully. Next we will enter the phase of the scientific mission under Cycle I, but from the picture. and the reports heard It is clear that in the near future there will be new discoveries, new objects that have not yet been seen. New galaxies that have not yet been observed and new knowledge plus beautiful pictures That will definitely change the textbooks in the coming decade for sure.
Source: NARIT, National Astronomical Research Institute
Compiled : Dr. Tiphon Tangmatitham, Astronomy scholar National Astronomical Research Institute (Public Organization)
Reference : https://www.stsci.edu/…/jwst-science-performance-report… / https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=409001134603768&set=a.304334558403760
Proofread by….Suree Silawong
