Imlisanen Jamir
With all that is going on in the world today, it might be cathartic for us to look up to the heavens.
Over our heads is now the James Webb Space Telescope — the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built.
With its gigantic mirror and sensitive instruments, Webb will peer at the Universe in infrared wavelengths. It will almost certainly — and immediately — smash the record for the most-distant galaxy ever observed, and study such galaxies for clues to the evolution of the universe.
It will sniff out molecules such as carbon dioxide and water vapour in the atmospheres of exoplanets, helping scientists to understand the chances of life on these other worlds. It will reveal the secrets of star formation by peering through the dust that enshrouds stellar nurseries and prevents them from being seen with other wavelengths of light.
Think of the dramatic images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and all that it revealed to us about the universe. Well, the Webb, has mirrors three times the size of Hubble's, and is 100 times more powerful.
While Hubble peered at the visible spectrum, and sent back remarkable images of stars, nebulae and far away galaxies, Webb will search the heavens for clues not visible to the naked eye.
But for all that the James Webb Space Telescope will allow us to discover about the past, maybe the most important thing it will reveal to us is a truth about our time, and that is that we live in the most amazing of times.
As a species, we are so engrossed in our battles of identity, geography and psyche. The wars we fight; and the violence we inflict on each other seem terribly petty in the face of the larger universe. Think of the unfathomable violent processes that gave rise to the stardust of which we are made. Do this, and we realise how important it is to feel connected to each other and the universe.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
