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In 2023, 4.6 billion light-years away from Earth, everything looks so peaceful, but in this peaceful night sky, there are countless galaxies hidden.
The distance between them and the earth is beyond human imagination, let alone human detection equipment, but this does not prevent human exploration and imagination of the universe.
In 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope took the farthest picture of the universe from Earth, which is considered to be the most distant and clear image of the universe ever seen by mankind.
1. A moment in the history of the universe.
In 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope took a picture of the universe at a distance of 4.6 billion light-years from Earth, which is believed to be the most distant and clear image of the universe ever seen by humans, showing light 13 billion years ago.
The image, which is believed to be the most distant and clear image of the universe ever seen, shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which is 4.6 billion light-years away from Earth.
What an amazing picture of thousands of galaxies, each containing countless stars!
So what exactly does this picture show?
First, let's look at the structure of this photo, which shows a bright spot in the center of the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which is caused by the phenomenon of celestial bending.
In Weber's photographs, many celestial bodies are bent, why is that?
This is because we know that light has the nature of waves, so light is also affected by gravity in the process of propagation, so when light passes through a strong gravitational field, it will deviate from the original straight path, this phenomenon is called gravitational lensing.
In Weber's photographs, there are many celestial bodies that are bent because of the strong gravitational field around these objects, so when light passes through this gravitational field, it will bend.
So what kind of object is this spot? This spot is actually coming from a galaxy on the other side of the Earth, and the light of this galaxy is bent by the gravitational field of the galaxy cluster in SMACS 0723, so there are two spots in this galaxy in our viewing angle.
In addition to this phenomenon of celestial bending, there is another phenomenon in Weber's photographs, which is the bar bar and the hexagonal star.
The bar bar is due to some structural defects in the telescope, and the hexagonal star is due to Weber's primary mirror is composed of 18 hexagonal lenses, which form hexagonal stars when they illuminate light.
Second, the importance of the infrared band.
Why do the images from the James Webb Space Telescope look so clear? This is because Webb uses infrared waves, which can penetrate a portion of the dust clouds to see the objects behind them.
This is very meaningful for humans, as the dust clouds hide a lot of information about the solar system, stars and even planets, which is the clue to our exploration of extraterrestrial life.
Therefore, the observation of infrared bands is very important to solve all kinds of doubts about the universe.
In 2011, the Hubble Space Telescope also observed SMACS 0723, but because Hubble's observation band is visible, when it observed the center of the SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster, it did not see through SMACS 0723 at a glance like Webb.
We can also know from the observations of Hubble and Webb that the observation of the infrared band is important for human exploration of the universe, and the dust cloud is like a mirror in the universe, which will block our view of the universe.
But if we can penetrate the dust cloud, then we will be able to see the celestial bodies hidden behind the dust.
3. James Webb Space Telescope.
The history of the James Webb Space Telescope can be described as bumpy, its preparation dates back to 1996, but for a number of reasons, Webb's launch has been repeatedly delayed.
But even with the delay, Webb's cost has risen from $5 billion to $10 billion in 2021.
Finally, Webb was launched on December 25, 2020, and is now in service.
The mission of the James Webb Space Telescope is to solve seven cosmic puzzles: dark matter, dark energy, the precursor to the Big Bang, the formation of stars, the formation of planets, life in the universe, and the habitability of the universe.
Webb's primary mirror is six times the size of Hubble, and it has 18 hexagonal lenses, all of which reach 2.5 meters in diameter, like a giant honeycomb.
Webb was going to make observations in the infrared band, so his lenses were painted gold to receive infrared light waves.
Weber's operating cycle is at least 10 years, and even 20 years, which highlights the importance of long-term planning and continuous investment in scientific research.
epilogue
Photographs from the James Webb Space Telescope are just an appetizer, and there will be more and more in-depth explorations and discoveries in the future, which inspires curiosity and desire to explore the universe.
The progress of space exploration has not only brought scientific discoveries, but also triggered people's thinking about the universe, life and human beings themselves, and expanded the boundaries of human cognition.