The James Webb Space Telescope’s instruments begin their missions to explore the history of the universe

The James Webb Space Telescope, located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, has completed the alignment phase of its scientific instruments, which began to work to explore the history of the universe, according to the US space agency NASA.

The four large instruments, three imaging devices and a spectrograph, were successfully aligned along the main mirror (6.5 m in diameter) whose deployment was achieved in early January two weeks after the launch of James Webb from French Guiana. In a statement Thursday, NASA said each instrument had reached its “operational temperature” and was ready to perform its science missions.

While waiting for the first scientific observations images that are expected to be sent by “James Webb” in the summer, it turned out that the tools are capable of “taking clear and targeted images”, such as those taken by the “Miriam” imaging device for stars and gas in a large cloud belonging to the planet Magellan, the smallest within a galaxy. Milky Way.

Pierre-Olivier Lagag, the scientific officer in charge of “Miriam” at the French Atomic and Alternative Energy Authority, tweeted: “The first picture was amazing because it was the kind we wanted…Things are going well…I’m very sure that science will develop in a way.” Big with James Webb.”

“These unique experimental images show what people across countries and continents can achieve when there is a brave scientific vision to explore the universe,” said Lee Feinberg, administrator of James Webb optical instruments at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

James Webb, which cost “NASA” $ 10 billion, according to estimates, is the most powerful telescope ever in the history of space exploration, and will allow observing the first galaxies that formed approximately 200 million years after the Big Bang.