作者：辛西娅·休伯特

2022年7月8日

One of astronomy’s most important storytelling instruments shared its first visual tales with the world on Tuesday, July 12, and 囊状态’s Planetarium played an important role in presenting that next chapter of deep space exploration to the public locally.

The Planetarium hosted a free open house 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, to show off the 詹姆斯·韦伯望远镜拍摄到的第一张深空图像, an instrument capable of peering into the origins of the universe. 欢迎公众参与。

来自社区的数百人参加了免费活动。

NASA partnered with 囊状态 and other institutions across the country to release new pictures provided by the telescope, which is orbiting the sun a million miles from earth, said Physics Professor Kyle Watters, the Planetarium’s director.

At the Planetarium, visitors viewed the highly anticipated images “plastered across our enormous 2,500-square-foot dome,” Watters said. 天文学家在现场描述这些图像并回答问题。

沃特斯说，Sac州立大学计划安排更多的参观，可能从8月开始。

The 韦伯望远镜, which was launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket on Christmas Day 2021, features a gold-coated mirror spanning more than 21 feet. NASA said the telescope’s revolutionary technology will study every phase of cosmic history by collecting light from the first stars and galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. 它的红外范围可以穿透尘埃和气体，使科学家能够探索前所未有的领域，帮助他们了解宇宙的起源。

“Webb will directly observe a part of space and time never seen before,” NASA’s website says. “Webb will gaze into the epoch when the very first stars and galaxies formed,” more than 13 billion years ago. 据该机构称，它还将成为研究太阳系行星和其他天体的有力工具。

这项工作正在进行中，新的图像将展示望远镜到目前为止所看到的东西。

美国宇航局本周公布了周二发现的宇宙物体名单。 它们包括星系、星云和太阳系外的一颗巨行星WASP-96 b，距离地球1150光年。

The information that Webb is collecting could offer “the first-ever evidence of signs of life elsewhere,” Watters said.

“This incredibly sensitive instrument can pick up tiny little changes in the light from another star that are caused by the atmosphere of a planet orbiting that star,” he said. “The composition of that atmosphere could reveal signs of life. We have never really been able to do this very well before.”

Scientists all over the world eagerly awaited release of Webb’s images, and the telescope will continue to deliver information for perhaps the next two decades. 沃特斯说，他期待着与他的学生和公众分享他的发现。

“I’m so excited to be an Astronomy professor right now,” he said. “Every year we will be able to talk about new images and discoveries coming from Webb.”

新闻报道：

• KCRA: 萨克拉门托 State's planetarium will feature new images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
• Good Day 萨克拉门托: NASA Reveals Webb Telescope's New Images Of Stars, Galaxies And An Exoplanet