Skip to content

Canadian-made tech on Webb space telescope crucial to new images

NASA released four new images from the space telescope today
20220712120740-05ad63dd0558c7961f19b7888f582921b3f387768cf10be452d85a045e726391
This image released 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 obscured areas of star birth, according to NASA. THE CANADIAN PRESS /AP-NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI via AP

LONGUEUIL, Que. — NASA is releasing new photos from its James Webb Space Telescope that offer a glimpse into dying stars and distant galaxies.

The United States agency released four new images today during an event broadcast worldwide, one day after the White House released the first image from the telescope.

The Webb, a US$10-billion joint partnership between NASA and the Canadian and European space agencies, is outfitted with two crucial Canadian-built systems, both of which are working properly.

Sarah Gallagher, science adviser to the Canadian Space Agency president, says it was an emotional day because the telescope had been more than two decades in the making.

Gallagher says that Webb is delivering exactly what its designers hoped it would.

The Canadian contributions to Webb include a Fine Guidance Sensor, which helps aim the telescope, and the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph, which helps analyze light.

The Webb is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope but is deployed much farther out — about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2022.

The Canadian Press