g'astronomer, #JWST/@NASAWebb & @NASARoman coronagraphist @STScI, exoplanet photons seeker. He/Him. Views EN FR ES my own https://teapaw.org/t.co/bIPRZx5ZC0
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ALT A young star cluster filled with many stars that display the Webb Telescope’s unique eight-pronged diffraction pattern. At its center is a yellow star, which sports the largest diffraction pattern. To the left of the star, there is a region filled with yellow dust and gas that extends from the star to the left border. This yellow region extends from the bottom, covering about two-thirds of the image. The yellow region has several blue stars of different sizes embedded within. The top third, which lies outside of the yellow region, holds a few bright protostars, within dense gray gas. Those stars illuminate the gas, making it appear blue. A few red outflows from other protostars are visible above this grayish-blue region. To the right of the central star, there is a clumpy, flame-like plume of red dust and gas with protostars that emit a soft white light within. The plume is surrounded by more dense gray gas and dust. There are several background galaxies strewn throughout the image/
ALT Three large satellite dishes stand outdoors on metal supports, angled toward the sky during sunset. The ground is covered in gravel, a few shrubs sit in the foreground, and the sky fades from warm orange near the horizon to deep blue above.
ALT A person in a blue jacket is shaking hands with another person behind a row of computer stations in a NASA flight control room. Several monitors and control equipment are visible. NASA logos are displayed on the wall. Another individual is standing nearby holding a document.
ALT A group of people are standing outside a large glass window, observing a mission control room with multiple screens displaying data and images. One person is pointing towards the room. The workspace is busy and well-lit, indicating activity.
ALT Two individuals are in conversation inside the Mission Operations Control Center. One wears a blue jacket, with NASA logos visible on the back. They are standing near a model of the James Webb Space Telescope. Large windows reveal an outdoor view.
ALT Group of people smiling, with one person taking a selfie in the foreground. A person in a NASA jacket stands prominently. Background includes a screen showing a countdown and bright windows.
ALT This test image captures the very first photons of starlight to reach the Wide Field Instrument on NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It was taken as an initial performance assessment with the detector array still stowed as it was for launch, far from best focus. Roman’s primary science instrument has opened its eyes to the universe for the first time, revealing a sea of out-of-focus stars, each spread out over many thousands of pixels. The image, which zooms into one detector and zooms again to a single star in the insets, offers a baseline the Roman team will work from to align the telescope’s optics and tune the focus. The team will soon activate the instrument’s fine-guidance system, which will mean Roman can lock onto targets. They’ll also focus the observatory, which will shrink each star’s light to appear as a crisp point, rather than the broad, donut-like features seen here (which appear as expected given the instrument’s present configuration).
ALT The plate attached to the Roman telescope, where a memory card containing names will be attached. It's a tall, thin, rectangular silver plate. At the top of the plate is the stylized Nancy Grace Roman name logo. Below is the silhouette of Roman's 18-square detectors in their iconic arch shape. Text below that reads "NASA's first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman, persevered through barriers and made powerful space telescopes a reality. She envisioned a world where everyone had access to, and enthusiasm for, science. This observatory is the continuation of her legacy and dream." Below the text is an illustration of Dr. Roman looking up, next to her name and the years 1925-2018. Below the years is a small box where the memory card will be affixed. The plate is held down with two large bolts at the top and bottom.
ALT A nighttime shot of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope encapsulated in its payload fairing, traveling to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Sydney Rohde (Rocz)
ALT At left, an illustration shows a gas giant exoplanet whose right half is illuminated while the left half is in shadow. It is mostly orange shading to pinks and purples at the two poles and shows swirling bands of clouds. Three dark splotches on its upper right show locations where comet fragments impacted the cloudtops, and another incoming comet fragment is seen as a bright spot against the nightside. The planet is against a black background speckled with stars. In the upper right corner of the image shines a small white blob representing its host star. A faint edge-on disk of dust extending from 10 o’clock to 4 o’clock on the star is also white. The words “Artist’s Concept” are at lower left.
ALT A crescent Earth setting behind the Moon\u2019s horizon. Credit: NASA
ALT Earth setting behind the Moon as seen by the Artemis II crew. Over half the left side of the image is filled by the gray lunar surface, pocked with craters. Credit: NASA
ALT A close view of the Moon. Jagged circles of craters dot the gray surface, fading to dark on the left side of the image. Credit: NASA
ALT A crescent Earth setting behind a hemisphere of the Moon. Credit: NASA
ALT A full disk image of Earth, as seen from the Orion capsule. The planet is a pale blue, swirling with white clouds and glowing slightly lighter blue in place from reflected light. From about 8 to 9 o'clock, a large brown landmass is Africa, with the Iberian peninsula twinkling with lights just where the planet curves. At the 1 o'clock spot, aurora glow in a thin green glow, just barely separated from the planet's surface. Earth is set against the black of space. Credit: NASA/Reid Weisman