James Webb Takes Its First Aligned Image of a Single Star

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) blazed the trail once again by taking its first aligned image of a single star.

Having 18 primary mirror segments, JWST –the largest telescope ever built– launched successfully into space on Dec. 25, 2021, with the potential of rewriting the history of astronomy.

As the telescope reached its final destination and was fully unfolded there, the giant space-based observatory has completed the alignment process known as “fine phasing” and exhibited its first unified image, according to NASA.

It focused on a star called 2MASS J17554042+6551277, and a red filter was implemented to indicate the contrast between the star in question and galaxies.

Once aligned, the primary mirror of the Webb will work as a single dish.

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Preparations for the James Webb

“We have fully aligned and focused the telescope on a star, and the performance is beating specifications. We are excited about what this means for science,” said Ritva Keski-Kuha at NASA Goddard, deputy optical telescope element manager working for the JWST. “We now know we have built the right telescope”.

“The images are focused together as finely as the laws of physics allow,” Marshall Perrin, deputy telescope scientist of Webb, told CNN.

The team behind the James Webb, a special gift for astronomers for sure, announced that the telescope’s optical path has no serious issues. That means it is ready to receive light from far fields as part of deep-space observations.

However, the preparations have not been over yet. The Webb team will adjust unresolved stages of alignment by lining up some instruments including the Near-Infrared Spectrograph, Mid-Infrared Instrument, and Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph. The alignment process is expected to be concluded by early May, as NASA reported.

Peering back in time

“More than 20 years ago, the Webb team set out to build the most powerful telescope that anyone has ever put in space and came up with an audacious optical design to meet demanding science goals,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “Today we can say that design is going to deliver”.

As a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb is considered an observatory that will alter our understanding of the universe as it will peer back in time.

This image shows the star called 2MASS J17554042+6551277. NASA