mdlbear: a pair of interacting galaxies that look like a rose (galaxy-rose)
mdlbear ([personal profile] mdlbear) wrote2022-07-12 02:28 pm
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Signal Boost: James Webb Space Telescope first images

I don't think I've ever used "awestruck" in my Mood field before. But the James Webb Space Telescope's first images are worth it.

Here's the (recorded) livestream where they released the first images and spectra.

Additional links: Webb Telescope: First Science Images Packet | Science Mission Directorate and Webb's First Images & Data | Flickr

Finally, a personal note: this was an unexpectedly intense emotional experience for me. My father was one of the pioneers of infra-red spectroscopy, and Mom worked on the Hubble (they both worked at Perkin-Elmer, where the Hubble's mirror was made). The software that finds the spectral lines is (most likely) based on the Savitzky–Golay filter. When they put up the spectrum of WASP-96B I was close to tears.