[HN Gopher] James Webb Space Telescope White House Briefing
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       James Webb Space Telescope White House Briefing
        
       Author : jotamon
       Score  : 75 points
       Date   : 2022-07-11 21:29 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | It is starting now!
        
         | gmiller123456 wrote:
         | Now, let's listen to politicians talk for 45 minutes. The hold
         | music was better.
        
       | anigbrowl wrote:
       | Joke's on us, NASA paid a lot of money for this music loop and
       | they're gonna get their money's worth
        
         | gmiller123456 wrote:
         | Every time it reaches the end, I feel like it's one of those
         | cruel "phone ring" sounds companies do to make you think
         | someone is answering the phone while you're on hold.
        
           | BurningFrog wrote:
           | Your science interest is important to us...
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | sp332 wrote:
         | https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=C8CHkd0gX0I&list=RDAMVMC8C...
        
           | anigbrowl wrote:
           | There are so many better options for space music, this is
           | nearly 30 years old
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6rtzPp0_ew
        
             | SnowProblem wrote:
             | Yes, but see NASA is trying to tell us something. The nerds
             | thought they would be on the ones pushing space exploration
             | forward. And they were, for a time. But then the travel
             | vloggers, the instagrammers, the reality tv producers, and
             | even the pornographers all saw the advertising money
             | floating out there in the cosmos, and space has been
             | tropical house ever since.
        
       | cookingrobot wrote:
       | Just started
        
         | cyberge99 wrote:
         | 6:15 PM EST
        
       | wsinks wrote:
       | Just started!
        
       | Izikiel43 wrote:
       | The context makes the picture more amazing than what Hubble did.
       | 
       | > Webb's image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a
       | grain of sand held at arm's length by someone on the ground - and
       | reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of vast universe
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | dougmwne wrote:
       | For those expressing disappointment, keep in mind that this
       | probably reminds you of the Hubble deep field, but that image
       | took 11 cumulative days of exposures and tons of post processing.
       | This is a very impressive deep field right out of the gate based
       | on only 11 hours of exposure. I don't know any more details than
       | that.
       | 
       | It's going to take lots of context and details to be able to make
       | apples to apples comparisons on image quality. Consider how hard
       | it is to come up with a "WOW" image after decades of Hubble and
       | highly advanced image processing techniques from space and
       | terrestrial scopes. It'll take many years to get the full value
       | from JWST, and this is just the start.
       | 
       | So bravo and keep it coming!
        
         | systemvoltage wrote:
         | Not a single comment in this thread has expressed
         | disappointment about the image itself. People are disappointed
         | about the PR and poorly run press conference.
        
           | dmix wrote:
           | It's disappointing because community outreached/education is
           | supposed to be a part of NASAs job. It was late, filled with
           | cliches, bad image quality, and over far too quickly. A
           | squandered opportunity to pay-off the excitement for this
           | project to communicate why it's interesting and build
           | excitement for what's still to come.
           | 
           | I guess we'll have to stick to Youtube channels with proper
           | production and presentation skills to do that...
        
       | ourmandave wrote:
       | The ASL interpreter is just delightful.
        
         | gmiller123456 wrote:
         | Never seen an interpreter so animated. Way more interesting
         | than listening to the dialog so far.
        
       | bostonsre wrote:
       | What time will it start?
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | spekcular wrote:
         | It was supposed to start at 5:30 ET.
        
         | BurningFrog wrote:
         | To celebrate the decade long delay of Webb itself, the start
         | time has been indefinitely delayed from 5:00 pm.
        
           | bostonsre wrote:
           | > We will begin shortly...
           | 
           | Lies.
        
             | gmiller123456 wrote:
             | NASA timescales are in the billions of years.
        
       | savant_penguin wrote:
       | I felt it missed a "before/after" comparison
        
         | BudaDude wrote:
         | I feel the same way. This picture looks very similar to images
         | we have already seen. It would have been nice if they showed
         | off the IR capture.
        
           | Arnavion wrote:
           | Why would it look any different? It's a deep field image.
           | There's nothing to see except galaxies.
           | 
           | Also, this _is_ the IR capture. The telescope can 't see
           | anything else.
        
         | perihelions wrote:
         | Here's Hubble views of the same object:
         | 
         | https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/relics/color_images/smacs07...
         | 
         | Here's miscellanous other views:
         | 
         | https://aladin.unistra.fr/AladinLite/?target=07%2023%2011.04...
        
       | cookingrobot wrote:
       | "If you hold one grain of sand at arms length".. it would be
       | about as big as this image they're showing onscreen.
       | 
       | I don't love this picture-in-picture-in-picture-in-picture
       | effect.
        
         | franknord23 wrote:
         | ... in glorious 720p /s
        
       | inostia wrote:
       | It was changed to 5:30 ET and is now running late it seems...
        
         | basementcat wrote:
         | It took many years for the light to reach the telescope, what's
         | a few more minutes?
        
           | inostia wrote:
           | Hey, I'm not living on cosmic time here! =)
        
             | asah wrote:
             | theories...
             | 
             | An intern photoshopped a middle finger into the Pillars of
             | creation and they're busy removing it.
             | 
             | The aliens filed a CCPA request to obscure their presence.
             | 
             | Clearing MAGA supporters wearing tinfoil hats who raided
             | the conference room.
        
               | bostonsre wrote:
               | Not to sound maga-ish, but its probably biden's fault. I
               | assume he is a little busy.
        
         | ceejayoz wrote:
         | On-brand for the JWST, to be fair.
        
       | typeofhuman wrote:
       | Well that was underwhelming
        
       | bvogelzang wrote:
       | Hard to see details of the image on the stream. You can see the
       | image here:
       | https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ma...
        
         | stopping wrote:
         | You can compare with the pre-JWST images here:
         | https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/relics/color_images/smacs07...
         | 
         | Noticeably better detail, for sure.
        
           | ge96 wrote:
           | Wonder can you draw lines/connect things to form volumetric
           | depth information not sure if that makes sense. Otherwise I'm
           | just looking at pretty dots (don't have the context). Crazy
           | though size/how many. Sad, need FTL/warp.
        
         | sgt wrote:
         | PNG or TIFF anywhere?
        
           | hturan wrote:
           | https://stsci-opo.org/STScI-01G7JJ29QMHNZKDK9JC7M4G47T.tif
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | The image is published now:
       | 
       | https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-... (
       | _" NASA's Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet"_)
       | 
       | late edit: And now full-resolution versions have been published
       | (largest is 4537 x 4630):
       | 
       | https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/038/01G...
        
         | eps wrote:
         | Same image, but from Hubble -
         | 
         | https://relics.stsci.edu/data/smacs0723-73/MAST/color_images...
         | 
         | (Found here https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/vwsswt/mega
         | thread_pr...)
        
         | stopping wrote:
         | You can compare with the pre-JWST images here:
         | https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/relics/color_images/smacs07...
        
           | dmix wrote:
           | Link doesn't seem to be working for me sadly
        
         | SnowProblem wrote:
         | Is each of those spirals really the size of our whole galaxy?
         | And if we were to zoom in 100x more, would there be just as
         | many galaxies to see, or is there a perceivable outer edge to
         | our universe's expansion?
        
           | dougmwne wrote:
           | That and more. Currently we think there are 2 trillion of
           | those little dots in the observable universe. There have been
           | some very interesting whole sky surveys that have mapped many
           | of them. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has data on location,
           | distance and spectroscopy on 50 million of the little
           | buggers. They have some neat 3D maps, think milk being
           | stirred into the black coffee of the vast.
        
         | dmalvarado wrote:
         | Is the light bending around some gravitational point, or is
         | that an* artifact of the telescope itself?
         | 
         | If the former, that is astounding.
         | 
         | Edit: nvm I think I figured it out myself. There are objects
         | next to smeared galaxies that are not distorted. The distorted
         | objects must be behind the gravitational field, and the un-
         | distorted objects in front.
        
           | sosodev wrote:
           | They said the bending isn't an artifact of the telescope.
        
           | lapetitejort wrote:
           | Seems to be multiple objects creating gravitational lensing.
           | I assume that is what's causing the weird smudged galaxy.
        
           | nevereveragain wrote:
           | From the article: > The combined mass of this galaxy cluster
           | acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant
           | galaxies behind it.
        
           | creato wrote:
           | It looks like there are undistorted galaxies right next to
           | the distorted ones, overlapping even. That suggests it's not
           | just a telescope artifact.
        
           | dougmwne wrote:
           | It is a gravitational lens. A massive concentration of matter
           | in between us and the galaxies behind it that bends the light
           | and give us an extra magnification factor. Strange to look
           | at, they can also boost the light gathering ability of the
           | telescope and give us valuable information about the very
           | early universe.
        
         | ASalazarMX wrote:
         | > This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky
         | approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length
         | by someone on the ground.
         | 
         | > The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared
         | 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster
         | acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant
         | galaxies behind it
         | 
         | The vastness of it all is mind numbing, it gives me mixed
         | feelings of awe, humility, and dread.
        
       | daviding wrote:
       | Link to the released image
       | 
       | https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ma...
        
         | bridanp wrote:
         | Everyone should zoom into this image on your own because it is
         | just absolutely amazing! I don't care politically either way,
         | but I'm sure/hopeful NASA's presentation tomorrow will actually
         | do a better job of showing just how important these visual
         | discoveries really are.
        
       | gmiller123456 wrote:
       | Been watching NASA TV for the last hour (got on early before the
       | first delay). It would be nice to have some update of when it's
       | actually going to happen.
        
         | zanethomas wrote:
         | You expect the government to treat you like a customer?
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | What's the least-effort, code-golf way to set up a push
       | notification for the moment the event *actually* starts? This
       | hold music is going to [omitted for politeness].
        
         | wsinks wrote:
         | Just started! hopefully that's no-code enough for ya :)
        
         | sp332 wrote:
         | A Twitter search for "Webb starting"?
        
           | sixstringtheory wrote:
           | We need an automated solution so a bot can Tweet that.
           | Otherwise some noble soul has to wait and watch to tell
           | everyone else, who will then have to contribute to their
           | patreon/soundcloud.
        
       | reiziger wrote:
       | I had expected something better than the bulk of pictures from
       | Hubble. It honestly just looks like a picture captured by Hubble.
       | 
       | Edit: clearly, I was wrong
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | sosodev wrote:
         | I wouldn't say you're wrong. It does _look_ very similar to a
         | Hubble deep field image because there isn 't much of a
         | difference visually between the different scales.
        
         | loktarogar wrote:
         | The scale is much, much different. This is a fraction of the
         | space Hubble photographed. This is a tiny bit of space shown
         | with the clarity that Hubble had for areas far bigger
        
           | reiziger wrote:
           | Thanks for the explanation. I was clearly wrong! Honestly,
           | not sure what "better" I had expected.
        
       | PopePompus wrote:
       | Gosh, what a crappy news conference. 40 minutes late, about 5
       | minutes long, and they didn't even show the released image full-
       | screen at any point.
        
         | systemvoltage wrote:
         | NASA used to do these on their own with no politicians there.
         | Much better IMO.
        
           | PopePompus wrote:
           | Webb was hugely expensive, so I understand why they had Biden
           | and Harris there, but if their time was very limited, they
           | should have exited and brought up some scientists to further
           | describe the image, and answer press questions. Imagine how
           | the press pool felt going through all the hassle of a
           | Whitehouse visit for _that_.
        
           | glitcher wrote:
           | Maybe the one scheduled for tomorrow will be better.
           | 
           | https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
        
       | sillysaurusx wrote:
       | Let's goooooo
       | 
       | So excited to finally see some big tech payoff in my lifetime.
       | Our parents had the shuttles, we get the telescope!
        
         | dekhn wrote:
         | When I was growing up, fairly young still (13), the shuttle
         | blew up shortly after liftoff. It set the whole program back by
         | many years, crushing many of my dreams for rapid expansion into
         | space (it was also fairly traumatizing to watch the repeated
         | coverage). To be honest, except for a few great wins and unique
         | missions, I don't think the shuttle was truly a big tech
         | payoff.
        
         | drumhead wrote:
         | The current generation also had CERN which gave us confirmation
         | of Higgs and LIGO which confirmed Gravity Waves, two of the
         | biggest discoveries of the century.
        
           | anigbrowl wrote:
           | tbqh confirmations aren't exciting unless you're in that
           | scientific field. Most people just hear 'we spent $10 billion
           | and found that our predictions about something too small to
           | detect any other way were correct.' Sure there are downstream
           | benefits in everything from heavy engineering to database
           | design, but that's too abstract for most people.
           | 
           | That's why people make up conspiracy theories instead about
           | how the LHC is pulling the earth into a different timeline
           | and changing the facts of the past. It's paranoid nonsense
           | but it's interesting seems like the sort of exciting outcome
           | you should get in return for $10b. I kinda think CERN should
           | lean into it, sponsor Half Life 3 or something.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | alphabetting wrote:
       | I thought we weren't getting first look until tomorrow. This
       | rules.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | l2p wrote:
       | Official Source:
       | 
       | https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public
       | 
       | Running late currently
        
         | eddyg wrote:
         | The White House stream is 1080p vs 720p for the NASA stream.
         | 
         | The pictures will show up here though:
         | https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages
        
           | jdnier wrote:
           | Yep, the first image just dropped:
           | https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-
           | webb-...
        
             | jdnier wrote:
             | It's like the Hubble Deep Field only with a lot of obvious
             | gravitational lensing.
        
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       (page generated 2022-07-11 23:01 UTC)