Over the next year, the James Webb Space Telescope will focus on black holes, exomoons, and dark energy, among other targets. The telescope will also study the planets that orbit other stars, including those within our solar system, looking for signs of life and probe the discs of dust and gas around infant stars where future planets like Earth may form.
The telescope’s latest targets were announced this week by the Space Telescope Science Institute. The group oversees Webb’s mission. The institute picked the scientific program for JWST’s second year of operation following a rigorous peer review process that began in January.
Some of Webb’s targets are familiar thanks to the images captured by its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. But JWST’s mirror is nearly three times wider, and the observatory sits about a million miles from Earth, giving it a better view of distant objects.
For example, astronomers using JWST’s Near-Infrared Telescope will look at the star-forming region known as the Carina Nebula in hopes of determining how planets like Earth form. They’ll use the telescope to measure the gases and dust that surround infant stars, which could reveal how organic molecules vital for life form. The telescope will also observe the dust and gas disks surrounding the infant stars, determining how fast they’re spinning.
In addition to studying star formation, JWST will look at the first galaxies in the universe and follow their evolution over cosmic time. The observatory will also ‘weigh’ the supermassive black holes at the center of many galaxies.
Earlier this year, the telescope made headlines by discovering two potential exomoons orbiting giant Jupiter-sized exoplanets. The discovery piqued scientists’ interest because it suggested that the planets might be habitable. The two exomoons, 55 Cancri e, and LHS 3844b are both about 41 light-years away from Earth. They appear rocky and have substantial atmospheres, but their environments are far too hot for human civilization.
Other Webb targets, such as the lava-covered world of 55 Cancri e or the rock-sized exoplanet that seems to lack a significant atmosphere called LHS 3844b, are more exotic. NASA officials say these worlds will be part of a series of studies of the Trappist-1 system to assess whether these rocky exoplanets are likely to have a hospitable climate that supports life.
Some of Webb’s targets are even more mysterious, such as the elusive dark matter and energy that make up our universe. These discoveries are expected to help scientists refine theories on how our universe came to be and what role it may have played in the early universe. The mission results from a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency.