MIRI's sharper view hints at new possibilities for science

The James Webb Space Telescope is aligned across all four of its science instruments, as seen in a previous engineering image showing the observatory's full field of view. Now, we take a closer look at that same image, focusing on Webb's coldest instrument: the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI.

The MIRI test image (at 7.7 microns) shows part of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way provided a dense star field to test Webb's performance.

Here, a close-up of the MIRI image is compared to a past image of the same target taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (at 8.0 microns). The retired Spitzer was the first observatory to provide high-resolution images of the near- and mid-infrared Universe. Webb, by virtue of its significantly larger primary mirror and improved detectors, will allow us to see the infrared sky with improved clarity, enabling even more discoveries.

For example, Webb's MIRI image shows the interstellar gas in unprecedented detail. Here, you can see the emission from 'polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons' - molecules of carbon and hydrogen that play an important role in the thermal balance and chemistry of interstellar gas.

When Webb is ready to begin science observations, studies such as these with MIRI will help give astronomers new insights into the birth of stars and protoplanetary systems.

Related Links
James Webb Space Telescope at ESA
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

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Webb telescope's first full color, scientific images coming in July
Washington (AFP) May 9, 2022
Get ready for a summer blockbuster. The James Webb Space Telescope will produce "spectacular color images" of the cosmos in mid-July - its first observations dedicated to its mission of scientific discovery, an astronomer overseeing the project said Monday. The successor to Hubble has spent the last five months aligning its instruments in preparation for the big reveal, with scientists deliberately remaining coy about where the cameras will be pointed. "We'd really like it to be a surprise, ... read more