NASA released the first images of the James Webb telescope earlier this week, giving people a much closer view of what the universe has.
Samantha Lawler, a professor of astronomy at Regina University (U of R), said that when she first saw the images, she was speechless.
“My jaw was on the ground,” he said in an interview with Cole Davenport of CTV Regina. “It was absolutely awesome.”
Lawler, who has expertise in observational astronomy, said the first image is only the size of a grain of sand held in one arm.
“We are seeing this small portion of the universe and you can see a lot of things in it. You can see hundreds of galaxies and each of these galaxies has billions of stars and billions of planets,” he said.
“It’s just an amazing mind-expanding exercise to look at these images and think about how much possibility there is for something. [to be] looking back. “
Because the ability of the James Webb telescope to get photos to the public is faster than any other telescope, Lawler said that means a lot to his field.
“It means we will be able to do more science faster, it means all these questions we have had will be answered very quickly,” he said. “A lot of astronomy is incremental, there are a lot of little questions that, added together, will add a lot to human knowledge.”
This image published by NASA on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 shows the edge of a nearby, young star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) on the James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously darkened areas of star birth, according to NASA. (NASA, ESA, CSA and STScI via AP)
The project has been under construction since the early 2000s and Lawler said everyone should be able to enjoy it.
“[Everyone] Contributing to this, Canadian scientists and astronomers built two of the cameras in this telescope. It was a big international effort, so when you look at these images, you know they are images too, ”he said.
Lawler entered the field of astronomy because of his interest in science fiction and said he has always been interested in understanding what else could be there.
“This is the constant question of science fiction. When we look at these galaxies, these tiny galaxies that are so far away, we’re looking back in time, so we’re actually seeing a long time ago in a very distant galaxy, so it really takes it. home, ”he said.
“It’s very, very powerful.”