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Jul 12 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Last night we had the first science-ready image from #JWST, NASA & ESA’s new space telescope. Today, we’re going to do it all again with a press conference at 3.30pm BST revealing the rest of #JWST’s first photo album. (1/n)
Here’s a list of the shots we’re expecting. After the beauty and wonder of last night’s distant galaxies, I’m drooling at the prospect of Stephan’s Quintet in particular (2/n)
As I said last night, I think a lot of us were surprised by the crystal-clear sharpness of the images, which is not what we always expect in infrared images. The giant #JWST mirror really helps, which is why they went to all of that trouble to fold it up for launch (3/n)
I’m wandering round #NAM2022 filming for #skyatnight, but here’s a thread with much important context for #JWST, posted before last night’s release. (4/4)

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More from @chrislintott

chrislintott Profile picture
Jul 13
For all the excitement about the images yesterday, I hope someone at the agency is rethinking how they present such things. Yesterday’s #jwst release was painful, despite the best efforts of some fabulous communicators. (1/n)
Firstly, I think there’s a tendency to be over ambitious. A live show, crossing to many different locations, and incorporating numerous live elements is tough, especially if you haven’t done it many times before. (2/n)
Industry people I know reckon that cost should have been > $750000. I’m pretty sure @NASA didn’t spend that, but doing it on (much) less risks disaster. (3/n)
Read 13 tweets
chrislintott Profile picture
Jul 11
We're about an hour away from the release of the first proper images from #JWST, the telescope that launched on Christmas Day. (1/n)
Since then, the team from NASA & ESA have been working hard to commission the instruments and get it ready for science. Today is a milestone in that process. (2/n)
The observatory is already hard at work; all over the world, astronomers are getting their hands on data from its golden mirrors, learning how to use new software to analyse it, and preparing to tell new stories (3/n)
Read 20 tweets
chrislintott Profile picture
Jul 11
Next up at #NAM2022 is @astronomerslc25 on the manifold wonders of brown dwarfs, stars with atmospheres more like giant planets such as Jupiter.
@astronomerslc25 Like @DrJoVian, I'm a little surprised to be reminded brown dwarfs were first discovered in my lifetime. They're such a central part of astronomy right now (because of links to exoplanets), bizarre to think it was only 1987 when first one was found.
@astronomerslc25 Keeping an eye on brown dwarfs shows changing properties as they rotate, so their atmospheres must be dynamic - they have weather, like Jupiter.
Read 4 tweets
chrislintott Profile picture
May 12
Happy Black Hole day everyone! The @ehtelescope team are announcing new results at noon today. You might remember the image released in 2019, showing the centre of the galaxy M87. (1/n)
That image, made with data from radio telescopes around the world, shows the silhouette of the massive black hole at the heart of M87. We’re not ‘seeing’ the black hole itself, just its effect on light, but it’s still an amazing image. (2/n)
The image is actually a reconstruction; it takes many months for the data from the different telescopes to be combined, and it’s not as if they spit out an image. Instead, what we see is a model that’s consistent with the data. (Producing this is a wonderful piece of work) (3/n)
Read 10 tweets
chrislintott Profile picture
Sep 9, 2021
Interesting experiment in #citizenscience ethics this morning! Along with millions of others, I’ve been logging health with @timspector’s @join_zoe app since the start of the pandemic. They’ve produced accurate data on symptoms and case rates throughout 1/n.
My reward as a participant has been access to that data, which has been interesting and useful. Now the app wants permission to ask me questions associated with other diseases and conditions, investigating their link to nutrition. 2/n
But it also wants permission to use the data collected for commercial purposes (@join_zoe is a personalised nutrition effort). I found myself declining - I wouldn’t mind being asked to give specific permission for specific use of specific data, but not a blanket ‘yes’. 3/n
Read 5 tweets
chrislintott Profile picture
Jan 15, 2021
At the #AAS237 conference yesterday I went to a panel discussion on the effect of large constellations of satellites on astronomy from the ground. The thousands of satellites @spacex and others want to launch are a serious problem. 1/n
@SpaceX The launch of so many satellites might change the appearance of the night sky for ever and the trails they leave in astronomers' cameras and the potential for interference with radio telescopes are serious problems 2/n
@SpaceX Those problems are particularly acute for those searching for near-Earth or threatening asteroids, for example, though any large survey of the sky is affected. 3/n
Read 15 tweets

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