Nasa’s Webb could catch the first stars

The launch of Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a large infrared telescope, into on Saturday could turn out to be an extremely significant development in the history of mankind, experts believe.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Praveen Suryavanshi of AstroSoc India said the telescope has the potential to help understand what happened at the inception of the universe and what possibly could transpire at the end of the universe.

“The mission could project findings from outer space and galaxies that are completely unknown to us, he explained.”

“With the launch of JWST, we are venturing into the ‘unknown’ where we could find life around older galaxies, which we were not able to explore with the existing telescopes. We will perhaps get some clues on what was the truth behind the big bang theory,” he said.

Pinpointing the capabilities of JWST, Dr J. Rukmini of Osmania University, said that the infrared telescope, placed at a far-off distance in space, can traverse the intergalactic space. Unlike the vision through traditional microscopes, which are blocked by dusty clouds and gasses, JWST can see infrared light with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity to view objects.

The astronomy department plans to shortly conduct a seminar for students to understand the JWST, Dr Rukmini said.

“As the speed of light is finite, catching the infrared rays can mean looking at the formation of the early universe. Despite many studies, we still do not understand what forms the core of the sun. With JWST, we could be able to study sun-like stars beyond the Milky Way to be able to understand the sun’s properties,” she said.

JWST could go back to the formation of the first stars and galaxies 13.5 billion years ago, Praveen added. “Is there any intelligent life on other planets in many other stars? Can life on other planets endure a longer duration of lifetimes? These are the kind of questions we could look into to study and harness life on earth,” explained D. Rukmini.