Canada’s instrument NIRISS on #Webb reveals the distinct signature of water 💧 in the atmosphere of a hot, puffy gas giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like star. It also shows evidence of haze and clouds that previous studies of this planet did not detect. ☁

The spectrum captured by NIRISS isn’t only the most detailed of its kind to date, but it also covers a remarkably wide range of wavelengths, including a portion of the spectrum that has not previously been accessible from other telescopes.

This part of the spectrum is particularly sensitive to water as well as other key molecules like oxygen, methane, and carbon dioxide. Webb will play a significant role in the search for potentially habitable planets in the coming years.

Each of the 141 data points (white circles) on this graph represents the amount of a specific wavelength of light that is blocked by the planet and absorbed by its atmosphere.

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and the Webb ERO Production Team
Source: @csa_asc

Why do some of the galaxies in this image appear bent? The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a “gravitational lens,” bending light rays from more distant galaxies behind it, magnifying them. The light from the farthest galaxy here traveled 13.1 billion years to us.
Source: @NASAWebb

Some stars go out with a bang. In these images of the Southern Ring planetary nebula, @NASAWebb shows a dying star cloaked by dust and layers of light.

Compare views of the Southern Ring nebula and its pair of stars by Webb’s NIRCam (L) & MIRI (R) instruments. The dimmer, dying star is expelling gas and dust that Webb sees through in unprecedented detail

http://nasa.gov/webbfirstimages/ #UnfoldTheUniverse
Source: @NASAWebb

In Webb’s image of Stephan’s Quintet, we see 5 galaxies, 4 of which interact. (The left galaxy is in the foreground!)

Webb will revolutionize our knowledge of star formation & gas interactions in these galaxies

http://nasa.gov/webbfirstimages/ #UnfoldTheUniverse
Source: @NASAWebb

Galaxies collide in Stephan’s Quintet, pulling and stretching each other in a gravitational dance. In the mid-infrared view here, see how Webb pierces through dust, giving new insight into how interactions like these may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe.
Source: @NASAWebb

🌟 A star is born!

Behind the curtain of dust and gas in these “Cosmic Cliffs” are previously hidden baby stars, now uncovered by Webb. We know — this is a show-stopper. Just take a second to admire the Carina Nebula in all its glory

http://nasa.gov/webbfirstimages/ #UnfoldTheUniverse
Source: @NASAWebb

The “Cosmic Cliffs” build on the legacy of Hubble’s imagery of the Carina Nebula, seen here. Webb’s new view gives us a rare peek into stars in their earliest, rapid stages of formation. For an individual star, this period only lasts about 50,000 to 100,000 years.
Source: @NASAWebb

Two cameras are better than one, as seen in this combined view from Webb’s NIRCam & MIRI! In the near-infrared, we see hundreds of stars and background galaxies. Meanwhile, the mid-infrared shows us dusty planet-forming disks (in red and pink) around young stars.
Source: @NASAWebb

Webb's First Deep Field (NIRISS Emission Spectra)

At far left is a near-infrared image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. A group of massive galaxies below and to the right of the bright central star have distorted, magnified, and mirrored many galaxies in this field.

By quickly examining the image at left by eye, it becomes clearer that one arc may be made up of two similar-looking galaxies. Their bright central regions match, despite their stretched appearances. These may be lensed galaxies – one galaxy that is mirrored in a second location. Are they the same? Researchers can’t be sure from the image alone – more data are needed to confirm a match.

Scientists do this by gathering spectra, which spread light out so they can fully examine an object’s makeup. Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS), which gathers spectra of every object in any field it observes, was pointed at the galaxy cluster to gather more detail. A segment of the NIRISS grism image (an instrument that has a grating, or stair steps, on a prism), at center, shows how ionized oxygen and atomic hydrogen emission lines are distributed along the arc.

Next, the spectra from each of these two galaxies were plotted as graphs, shown at right, to reveal their compositions. The graphs, known as spectra, match, which indicates that these arcs are mirror images of the same galaxy. Webb’s spectra from NIRISS also quickly proved that light from both galaxies was emitted 9.3 billion years ago, further confirming they are one and the same.

Using Webb’s NIRISS is like opening a treasure chest overflowing with spectra. For example, this instrument can disperse the spectra along the image vertically and horizontally. Researchers can use both modes to untangle which lines match each source.

Every object’s image can be transformed into spectra like the two shown above. So even if researchers aren’t intending to study a particular galaxy in the field, they may make a surprise discovery.

Source
@EverythingScience

As part of Webb’s prep for science, we tested how the telescope tracks solar system objects like Jupiter. Webb worked better than expected, and even caught Jupiter’s moon Europa

These images are designed for engineering purposes, so they aren’t processed in the same way as our first images this week. Like some earlier calibration images, these are processed to emphasize certain features.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/07/14/webb-images-of-jupiter-and-more-now-available-in-commissioning-data
Source: @NASAWebb
@EverythingScience

Where in the night sky exactly are the "cosmic cliffs" from the JWST Carina Nebula images? (4K)

In order to give some context to the amazing images from the James Webb Space Telescope, we wanted to show where exactly the image belongs in the night sky. The scale is truly immense.
Further explanation

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Video
@EverythingScience