A Really "Cool" Image from Space

[George Thomas Wilson]

A Really "Cool" Image from Space

Not really a Nat Geo item, but I'm sure this will be covered in an upcoming issue.  The commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope is in its final stages.  The mirrors and the instruments have all been aligned and the instruments are being calibrated.  Everyone talks about the Webb replacing Hubble, but that isn't the whole story.  Back when Hubble was new, there was a series of "Great" telescopes: the Hubble (visible light), Spitzer (infrared), Chandra (X-ray), and Compton (Gamma ray).  The Webb is an infrared telescope, that is why it is so freakishly cold, a few degrees above absolute zero.  So, while it's true that the Webb is Hubble's replacement, it is really the next Spitzer.

The Webb has taken images from all its instruments, and one, from the device known as MIRI, was of part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy.  That region had also been photographed by Spitzer, before it was retired.  Here are the images from both telescopes for a comparison:

And here is a Gif with the images superimposes, with the Spitzer image fading out while the Webb image fades in:

Tom Wilson

[Scott T. Shier]

Thanks for sharing this Tom. You gave me more detail than what I saw about this in passing the other day. 

Here's the link to NGM.com's coverage of the James Webb Space Telescope so far:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/search?q=james%20webb%20telescop...;

Also, National Geographic has done its share of coverage on the Hubble, as seen here ---->