Gary Boyle

By Gary Boyle – The Backyard Astronomer

It is often said, a picture is worth a thousand words and the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope did not disappoint. During the news conference on July 12, the world had a ringside seat to the most remarkable images of the universe ever taken. Over the hour, five images left us wanting more. This is only the tip of the cosmic iceberg.

The deep field image showed thousands of galaxies including a few that look stretched. This is not a flaw of the telescope. It is the distortion caused by gravity from a foreground large galaxy. Einstein predicted this warping or the curvature of the fabric of space-time, much like someone standing on a trampoline where the rubber mat is distorted. The larger the object, the bigger the distortion of light.

To show the power of James Webb, the area of space where the deep field image was taken was as small as a grain of sand held at arm’s length. This cluster is located 4.6 billion light-years away. That is the amount of time it took the light to reach us and when the sun and planets were slowly being created from the solar nebula.

Launched on December 25, 2021, the mighty Ariane 5 rocket delivered the seven ton telescope into space where it was deployed and gracefully continued its journey. It travelled for another 30 days to its final position known as Lagrange 2, a point in space some 1.5 million kilometres from earth or about four times the earth-moon distance.

Unlike the Hubble which was launched in 1990 with a flawed mirror requiring a repair mission in 1993 outfitting it with corrective lenses, James Webb is too far for a service mission. Who knows if there will be such a mission down the road if needed, but for now, there are no plans to ever visit the telescope.

The $10 billion project is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency along with other companies. Canada’s contribution is the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) used to point the massive telescope as well as the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS).

Thousands of people worldwide worked on this project which began in 1996 when it was first called the Next Generation Telescope. In 2002 the name was changed to James Webb Space Telescope who was the NASA administrator from 1961 to 1968. These were the early days of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

The Webb project suffered setbacks along the way such as a redesign and the Covid pandemic did not help matters. When completed, the 18 gold-plated six-sided honeycomb-style mirrors measure a total width of 6.5 metres wide compared to Hubble’s 2.4-metre wide single mirror. This results in more light-gathering power along with its infrared capability to observe heat signatures through clouds of interstellar dust.

Another critical part of the telescope is the sun shield measuring the size of a tennis court. Comprised of lightweight material with special thermal properties, the five layers will provide a shield from the sun’s heat and light as well as the heat of its instruments allowing the sensitive infrared to work without interference. The mirror will operate at -223 degrees Celcius and the rest of the equipment close to absolute zero or -273 degrees Celsius.

In the wise words of Carl Sagan, “somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known,” The James Webb Space Telescope has opened a news portal to discovery. Will we someday glimpse the first stars and infant galaxies dating back 13.8 billion years? Only time will tell.

Clear skies.

Known as “The Backyard Astronomer”, Gary Boyle is an astronomy educator, guest speaker and monthly columnist for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada as well as past president of the Ottawa Centre of the RASC. He has been interviewed on more than 50 Canadian radio stations as well as television across Canada and the US. In recognition of his public outreach in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union has honoured him with the naming of Asteroid (22406) Garyboyle. Follow him on Twitter: @astroeducator, Facebook and his website: HYPERLINK “http://www.wondersofastronomy.com/” www.wondersofastronomy.com

One of the best spectacles in the night sky is a total lunar eclipse. No special equipment is required to watch this cosmic lineup. In contrast to a solar eclipse, the lunar variety is very safe to witness and enjoy. On the night of May 15, the full Flower Moon with creep into the much larger earth’s shadow with the entire event lasting about three and a half hours.

Early civilizations called it the “Blood Moon” as our natural satellite would sometimes take on a reddish hue. Superstition tells the story of doom and gloom. The ancient Inca people would shake their spears and shout to scare off the jaguar they thought was eating the moon. Of course, it always worked. Other times the moon would turn a copper or burnt orange colour. This variation from one eclipse to another depends on how transparent or lack of our atmosphere is. The coloured lunar surface is the result of sunlight refracting or passing through our atmosphere, much like seeing a red sunset.

Although eclipses were terrifying events to various cultures, Christopher Columbus used a prediction from an almanac to save his shipwrecked crew from starvation. Months before the 1504 total eclipse, his crew was stranded off the coast of Jamaica. They were welcomed by the Arawak people and given food and shelter. Over time half the crew mutinied and began stealing and murdering some of the friendly Arawaks. Things became dire as the chief held back food resulting in starvation. Columbus knew of the predicted eclipse would occur in a few days and used it to his advantage. He fooled the chief into believing he had great powers to cause the moon to turn a fearful tinge of blood red.

On the night of February 29, the moon rose while entering earth’s shadow. This was of great concern to the villagers and they provided food to the crew once again. Columbus waited in his tent until the right moment as per the prediction. A few minutes before the end of totality, he announces that his gods had pardoned them. As he uttered these words, the moon begins to pull out of the shadow and appear normal once again. A rescue mission found Columbus and his crew at the end of June of that year.

We do not witness an eclipse every month because the moon has a slight incline of its axis as it orbits our planet. On a few special moments throughout the year the sun, earth and moon line up. Some events are total but others lineups result in the moon clipping the earth’s shadow. This is a partial eclipse and also occurs during a solar eclipse.

Although not necessary, try to head out of city limits and away from light sources for some great digital photography. Although a cell phone will record the eclipse, a DSLR camera on a tripod will be needed to capture the lovely Milky Way to the left of the eclipsed and much darker moon. Use a cable release to open the camera shutter for a few seconds during totality. Set the camera on manual and experiment with exposure times. Remember pixels are free.

The eastern and most of the central portion of North America will witness the entire eclipse from start to finish. For mountain and western time zones, the eclipse will be underway as the moon rises. Enjoy this must-see event if at all possible. The next total lunar eclipse will occur on November 8 of this year and favours the west coast.

Newfoundland and Labrador Time Partial umbral eclipse begins: 11:57 p.m. Moon enters the earth’s shadow.  Total lunar eclipse begins: 12:59 a.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.  Greatest eclipse: 1:41 a.m. Mid-point of the eclipse. Total lunar eclipse ends: 2:23 a.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.  Partial umbral eclipse ends: 3:25 a.m. Moon completely exits earth’s shadow. 
Atlantic Time Partial umbral eclipse begins: 11:27 p.m. Moon enters the earth’s shadow.  Total lunar eclipse begins: 12:29 a.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.  Greatest eclipse: 1:11 a.m. Mid-point of the eclipse. Total lunar eclipse ends: 1:53 a.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.  Partial umbral eclipse ends: 2:55 a.m. Moon exits earth’s shadow. 
Eastern Time Partial umbral eclipse begins: 10:27 p.m. Moon enters the earth’s shadow.  Total lunar eclipse begins: 11:29 p.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.  Greatest eclipse: 12:11 a.m. Mid-point of the eclipse. Total lunar eclipse ends: 12:53 a.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.  Partial umbral eclipse ends: 1:55 a.m. Moon completely exits earth’s shadow. 
Central Time Partial umbral eclipse begins: 9:27 p.m. Moon enters the earth’s shadow.  Total lunar eclipse begins: 10:29 p.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.  Greatest eclipse: 11:11 p.m. Mid-point of the eclipse. Total lunar eclipse ends: 11:53 p.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.  Partial umbral eclipse ends: 12:55 a.m. Moon exits earth’s shadow. 
Mountain Time Partial umbral eclipse begins: 8:27 p.m. Moon enters the earth’s shadow.  Total lunar eclipse begins: 9:29 p.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.  Greatest eclipse: 10:11 p.m. Mid-point of the eclipse. Total lunar eclipse ends: 10:53 p.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.  Partial umbral eclipse ends: 11:55 p.m. Moon exits earth’s shadow. 
Pacific Time Partial umbral eclipse begins: 7:27 p.m. Moon will rise as the eclipse begins.  Total lunar eclipse begins: 8:29 p.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.  Greatest eclipse: 9:11 p.m. Mid-point of the eclipse. Total lunar eclipse ends: 9:53 p.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.  Partial umbral eclipse ends: 10:55 p.m. Moon exits earth’s shadow. 
Clear skies.

Known as “The Backyard Astronomer”, Gary Boyle is an astronomy educator, guest speaker and monthly columnist for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada as well as past president of the Ottawa Centre of the RASC. He has been interviewed on more than 50 Canadian radio stations as well as television across Canada and the US. In recognition of his public outreach in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union has honoured him with the naming of Asteroid (22406) Garyboyle. Follow him on Twitter: @astroeducator, Facebook and his website: www.wondersofastronomy.com