Such a cool and inspiring thing. Like a breath of fresh air.
Ironic that the instruments need cool-in.
Yes it does sound odd but they were developed to work in the vacuum and temps of space. I think they are heading for close to zero K but I havenât done the conversion to see where that lays on the F scale. I see itâs still +100F on the hot side and -380F on the cold side. What a spread.
And they said they werenât going to release any images until the mirrors were fully aligned.
As 0 K is absolute zero this is -460° F.
One of those little bits of trivia stuck in my brain.
Thanks. Imagine how much work they had to do to R&D the instruments at that temp here on ole blue.
The entire project is mind boggling. Incredible.
Not really. For example, in order for the mid-IR MIRI instrument not to swamp itself with itsâ own thermal radiation, the detector needs to be cooled to 7 K. That canât be achieved with the passive sunshade alone. It takes more time even in space than you might imagine for a practical cooling system, even an active system, to bring the thermal mass of an instrument down to 7 K and keep it there. Just one more reason, as if we needed more, to witness what Webb can do from a purely engineering point of view with awe.
And most of that advancement has been in the last 60 years or so. What a short and steep learning curve for mankind. Kind of makes you wonder how that could all take place in such a short time frame.
Wanât that what Neil Armstrong said?
Something like that.
I think there was a step and a leap in his version
To me that image is a thing of beauty. It proves NIRCam is alive and kicking. Nothing would be more disappointing than a dead NIR instrument. What a fascinating real world lesson it will be in optics and engineering to see that image coalesce as the team aligns the segments. Itâs more than just alignment, but fine tuning for sharpest image MTF. I love it. Iâve lived it on HST. Enjoy!
SheeshâMy comment was an ironic comment re our audiophile concern about âburn-inâ and the JW needs âcool-inââŚIf you have to explain them, theyâre just not funny.
No offense was intended. The context went over my head. My apologies.
That said, my transgression is so minor and subtle it hardly seems to warrant this response. In my humble opinion. I canât resist my impulse to try to inform and educate. My problem. I will withdraw from this forum to avoid being an irritant. I truly enjoyed the interaction while it lasted.
Hang around @owlsalum ! I like the information.
Humor is tough. I tend to take things literally so I did not get it either.
No offense was intended, either.
No. Please stay! We are truly enjoying your input and perspective!
0K = â459.67 °F (Pedantic Alert)
Yes, I rounded up (actually down) by -0.33° F.
I doubt even the telescope cares
Almost ready to generate images!!