Europe′s (kinda clunky) James Webb moment | Science | In-depth reporting on science and technology | DW | 13.07.2022

Visit the new DW website

Take a look at the beta version of dw.com. We're not done yet! Your opinion can help us make it better.

Go to the new dw.com

We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration.

More info OK
  1. Inhalt
  2. Navigation
  3. Weitere Inhalte
  4. Metanavigation
  5. Suche
  6. Choose from 30 Languages

Science

Europe's (kinda clunky) James Webb moment

The dramatic unveiling of the James Webb telescope's first few photos really was special. And it didn't go quite as planned here in Germany.

More in the Media Center

This handout image released on July 6, 2022 by NASA, CSA and FGS shows a Fine Guidance Sensor test image which was acquired in parallel with NIRCam imaging of the star HD147980 over a period of eight days at the beginning of May. - NASA has a provided a tantalising teaser photo ahead of the highly-anticipated release next week of the first deep-space images from the James Webb Telescope –- an instrument so powerful it can peer back into the origins of the universe. The first fully formed pictures are set for release on July 12, but NASA provided an engineering test photo on July 6 -- the result of 72 exposures over 32 hours that shows a set of distant stars and galaxies. (Photo by various sources / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT AFP PHOTO / NASA, CSA, and FGS - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

US releases first images from new Webb space telescope 12.07.2022

In Germany, algae are being cultivated to make biofuel.

Innovative fuel: The power of algae 28.05.2016

Biologin

The Star Microbiologist 15.09.2014

Ausschnitt aus einem Beitrag, der in der Sendung Shift vom 5.5.2014 verwendet wurde. Copyright: DW

Predicting the Future with Big Data 28.07.2014

More from Science unscripted

Weekly roundup — Breathe it all in

Weekly roundup — Breathe it all in 22.09.2022

DW Podcast | Science Unscripted

Excuse me, but have you tried 'high-quality' sleep? 21.09.2022

COVID-19: Nasal vaccines aren't like other vaccines

COVID-19: Nasal vaccines aren't like other vaccines 20.09.2022

Weekly roundup — Let's make a baby

Weekly roundup — Let's make a baby 18.09.2022

Read also

The bright star at the center of NGC 3132, while prominent when viewed by NASA’s Webb Telescope in near-infrared light, plays a supporting role in sculpting the surrounding nebula. A second star, barely visible at lower left along one of the bright star’s diffraction spikes, is the nebula’s source. It has ejected at least eight layers of gas and dust over thousands of years. But the bright central star visible here has helped “stir” the pot, changing the shape of this planetary nebula’s highly intricate rings by creating turbulence. The pair of stars are locked in a tight orbit, which leads the dimmer star to spray ejected material in a range of directions as they orbit one another, resulting in these jagged rings. Hundreds of straight, brightly-lit lines pierce through the rings of gas and dust. These “spotlights” emanate from the bright star and stream through holes in the nebula like sunlight through gaps in a cloud. But not all of the starlight can escape. The density of the central region, set off in teal, is reflected by how transparent or opaque it is. Areas that are a deeper teal indicate that the gas and dust are denser – and light is unable to break free. Data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) were used to make this extremely detailed image. It is teeming with scientific information – and research will begin following its release. This is not only a crisp image of a planetary nebula – it also shows us objects in the vast distances of space behind it. The transparent red sections of the planetary nebula – and all the areas outside it – are filled with distant galaxies. Look for the bright angled line at the upper left. It is not starlight – it is a faraway galaxy seen edge-on. Distant spirals, of many shapes and colors, also dot the scene. Those that are farthest away – or very dusty – are small and red. For a full array of Webb’s first images and spectra, including downloadable files, please visit: https://webbtelescope.org/news/first-images NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center.

Why the new James Webb Space Telescope images are so important for science 13.07.2022

The first images from the Webb Telescope have wowed the world with their beauty. But what do they mean for the future of astronomy?

Though an estimated 100 million black holes roam among the stars in our Milky Way galaxy, astronomers have never identified an isolated black hole – until now. Following six years of meticulous observations, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has provided, for the first time ever, strong evidence for a lone black hole plying interstellar space. The black hole that was detected lies about 5,000 light-years away, in the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm of our galaxy. However, its discovery allows astronomers to estimate, statistically, that the nearest isolated black hole to Earth might be as close as 80 light-years. Black holes are born from rare, monstrous stars (less than one-thousandth of the galaxy’s stellar population) that are at least 20 times more massive than our Sun. These stars explode as supernovae, and the remnant core is crushed by gravity into a black hole. Because the self-detonation is not perfectly symmetrical, the black hole may get a kick, and go careening through our galaxy like a blasted cannonball. Hubble can’t photograph the wayward black hole because it doesn’t emit any light, but instead swallows all radiation due to its intense gravitational pull. Instead, Hubble measurements capture the ghostly gravitational footprint of how the stealthy black hole warps space, which then deflects starlight from anything that momentarily lines up exactly behind it. Ground-based telescopes, which monitor the brightness of millions of stars in the rich star fields in the direction of the central bulge of our Milky Way, look for the tell-tale sudden brightening of one of them when a massive object passes between us and the star. Then Hubble follows up on the most interesting such events. Kailash Sahu of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, along with his team, made the discovery in a survey designed to find just such isolated black holes. The warping of space due to the gravity of a foreground object passing in front of a star located far behind it will momentarily bend and amplify the light of the background star as it passes in front of it. The phenomenon, called gravitational microlensing, is used to study stars and exoplanets in the approximately 20,000 events seen so far inside our galaxy. ...

NASA reveals James Webb Space Telescope's first images of cosmos 11.07.2022

The first pictures from NASA's James Webb Telescope have been made public. They are the deepest images of the Universe ever made.

HANDOUT - 08.10.2018, Australien, Boolardy: Das undatierte Foto zeigt die Milchstraße über dem ASKAP-Radioteleskop-Array im Murchison Radio-Astronomie-Observatorium. ASKAP wird von der Australiens staatlichen Forschungsagentur CSIRO betrieben. Auf der Spur rätselhafter kurzer Radioblitze aus dem Kosmos haben australische Astronomen 20 dieser bislang unerklärten Ereignisse beobachtet. Damit verdoppele sich die Zahl der seit der Entdeckung des Phänomens aufgezeichneten Blitze nahezu, erläuterte das Internationale Zentrum für Radioastronomie-Forschung ICRAR in Perth in einer Mitteilung. Aus dem All kommen rätselhafte Blitze. Um sie aufzuzeichnen, brauchen die Forscher große Teleskope. Foto: Alex Cherney/CSIRO/dpa - ACHTUNG: Nur zur redaktionellen Verwendung im Zusammenhang mit der aktuellen Berichterstattung und nur mit vollständiger Nennung des vorstehenden Credits ACHTUNG: Dieses Foto hat dpa bereits im Bildfunk gesendet - Honorarfrei nur für Bezieher des Dienstes dpa-Nachrichten für Kinder +++ dpa-Nachrichten für Kinder +++

2021: What awaits us in space this year? 22.01.2021

Three space probes will arrive on Mars, the James Webb Space Telescope will be launched, the 12th German heads into space, two giant planets and four eclipses – 2021 has lots in store for space enthusiasts.

JULY 26, 2021: A view of the Progress MS-16 freighter with the Pirs docking module undocked from the International Space Station and set for re-entry into Earth s atmosphere. Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky/Roscosmos Press Office/TASS THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxONLY TS1099D4

Space exploration could be Earth’s saving grace 01.02.2022

A bird’s eye view of the Earth could help identify the issues causing the climate crisis, space experts said at the 14th European Space Conference last week.