Possibilities

Just finished covering the first light images from JWST. It was a bit underwhelming. The Biden reveal yesterday began more than an hour late, and I was watching BGT videos on YouTube while the reveal was happening lol. Then today, they messed up the proceedings, with CSA not even participating in their segment, switched out with an expert at hand at NASA. 

The central white dwarf periodically throws temper tantrums and ejects massive clouds of gas that it has cannibalised from its unseen stellar companion. In deep space, every day is Diwali. 

A dying star, some very distant galaxies, a star forming region, the spectrum of a hot Jupiter exoplanet and a quintet of interacting galaxies were what were showcased in the images. Considering 30 years of work and billions of dollars sent up in the air, it was all a bit... underwhelming. We can do a lot of science with the images we have already really, are we learning that much more. 

Gravitational lensing creates virtual telescopes bigger than the distances between galaxies. The rays are because of light bending on the edges of the telescopes, or shattered mirror segments from too many micrometeoroid impacts on the mirror segments because you are stupid enough to deploy an unservicable telescope in a region known to collect gas and dust. 

The problem with the JWST is that it can only see in infrared light. We need full spectrum imaging instruments to peer at the really interesting targets, such as the Trappist-1 system. The big pending questions are things like measuring the expansion rate of the universe, finding intermediate mass black holes, understanding how massive galaxies and quasars were formed so early in the universe, and investigating the formation of the first supermassive black holes. The first light images do not really address these pressing questions. 

A stellar nursery with a newborn bubble of gas pushed away from energetic hot young stars. So grammable. 

The biggest disappointment was perhaps that there was not a single solar system target. Would be so great to have an image of Europa or Enceladus in the first light images. I was so looking forward to writing a story with the headline James Webb Space Telescope captures butt-clenchingingly beautiful images of Uranus. In fact, I am going to do it. 

A never-before-seen galactic collision.

Sure, it is just the commencement of the science program, and we can expect much more spectacular images going forward. Somehow, something feels off. Is there something like deep space fatigue? The problem is that space science dominates science and technology coverage in the media, and the difficult to explain, complex, and even obscure stuff gets overshadowed. Health, public health, environment, and wildlife conservation are some examples of undercovered areas. 

Greedy sun feeding on two gas giants and two rocky worlds in hopeless effort to grow as big as its hypergiant binary companion. The sodium based life forms on the puffball Hot Jupiters are screaming for their lives while taking cover from storms of molten gemstones. Unfortunately, the JWST cannot hear them as sound does not travel through space.  

Anyway, Biden said USA was the greatest country in the world, Nelson said NASA was the greatest space agency in the world, while ESA and Germany tried to point out their contributions in separate press releases. It is so funny to see academic institutions and scientific organizations put out press releases highlighting the contributions of their own members, while downplaying that of researchers from other institutions, even though science is very much a collaborative effort. Even more irritating are press releases that are one sided and make it out as if questions have been settled, even for contentious issues. 

:) I'm having a steaming hot cup of coffee in the middle of the night and laughing at my own jokes. HAHA.