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What exactly are we hoping to learn from the telescope? I understand that it will allow us to see farther than ever before, and that is exciting. But, there mus
by josho 5y ago
What exactly are we hoping to learn from the telescope? I understand that it will allow us to see farther than ever before, and that is exciting. But, there must be a list of hypotheses that astronomers are planning to test. None of the videos/articles I've found actually speak to the specific discoveries we are hoping to make. Is it simply that the science is so advanced that it's out of reach for a layman?
- doctoboggan 5y agoWhat I am most excited for is the experiments using this scope to analyse the atmospheres of exoplanets. The goal is to look for signs of like like high quantities of methane.
- josho 5y agoI think the article touched on that, but your second sentence gave the context of why looking at the atmosphere is interesting. Thank you. And yeh, that is exciting!
- doctoboggan 5y agoI've been waiting for JWST for years ever since I heard what it will be capable of. I believe detecting bio-signatures on a planet around another star will be one of the most profound perspective shifts humans will experience. (Even more than Copernicus putting the sun in its place.) And I do believe there is a high probability of detecting those bio-signatures.
- wefarrell 5y agoWebb has four mission science goals: - Search for the first galaxies or luminous objects that formed after the Big Bang. - Determine how galaxies evolved from their formation until the present. - Observe the formation of stars from the first stages to the formation of planetary systems. - Measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems and investigate the potential for life in those systems. https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/faq.html#goals https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/faq.html#goals
- josho 5y agoThose are great thank you! I suppose I'm also hoping to go deeper. Like how is this going to help us understand how galaxies evolve? I suppose it will because we can see farther and so younger galaxies, and compare that to older galaxies to learn more about how they change. I guess I'll have to wait for science to do it's thing and then we'll likely have lots of information to explain it all. Right now it wouldn't be a particularly compelling book to write.
- TheBigSalad 5y agoPart of this is that they don't exactly know what they are going to see out there.