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NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

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Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#91

Post by jallen_dot_dev »

vecter wrote: post #75
wwarner wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand it, they aren't exactly lens artifacts, they're stars in the foreground. The telescope can't see past them and we don't know what's there. To me, it would defeat the observational mission of the JWST to fill it in with some pixels that were similar to the rest of the background. However, I also think you raise a good point, since all these images are constructed from non-visible infra-red light and ma…

They're not talking about the stars, but the hexagonal spikes sticking out of the stars. Those are artifacts of the hexagonal lenses that the telescope uses.

I think you're both right to a degree? They are lens artifacts and we can't just remove them because we don't have the data of what's behind the spikes, as that is what the sensor can see. We'd be filling them in with black or our best guess based on neighboring pixels, either way it wouldn't be what one would "really" see. Unless we composited images from another source, then that'd come closer to accurate.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#92

Post by jrootabega »

gryn wrote: post #90
jrootabega wrote: post #86

I don't know if Space Engine or Universe Simulator have anything interesting with the Pillars, but I can comment on two games that do: - Elite Dangerous lets you travel to the Eagle Nebula, but the developers have unfortunately decided that the Pillars no longer exist in the 34th century. It's probably a tradeoff to let them effectively simulate the scale of the Milky Way, if not all of its details. (EDIT: OK, stupid…

> humans will continue to see the standing pillars for another 1,000 years. [Source]( https://futurism.com/the-pillars-of-creation )

The game uses an infinite speed of light when rendering the skybox, so you don't even see the Pillars from Earth, even if you would 1300 years from now. In the real world? Eh, I searched around and found conflicting information from this and other equally reputable sources. I guess the only thing I can believe definitively about the Pillars' existence is that no one we will ever know will ever know anyone who will ever know.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#93

Post by jallen_dot_dev »

siavash wrote: post #21

Every time I see a photo of Pillars of Creation it makes me wonder if we would even be able to distinguish an unfathomably optimized engineered system from what we consider raw physics with our current understanding.

"Any sufficiently advanced engineered system is indistinguishable from raw physics."

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#95

Post by edvards »

nuccy wrote: post #39
xeromal wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if the hubble can take an infrared picture, that would be a better comparison point, no?

Webb observes "much further" into the IR [1]. 1. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hu... (this image is from [2]) 2. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-vs-webb-on-the-s...

Does this mean what Hubble sees is actually closer to what I'd see with my own eyes than Hubble, or Hubble's version is closer?

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#97

Post by _bohm »

technonerd wrote: post #27
bearjaws wrote: post #11

Also look at the comparison to the Hubble image. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/st... Impressive to see the infrared spectrum seeing through all the background gas to the millions of stars.

Handy Dandy Slider action between the two! https://esawebb.org/images/comparisons/weic2216/

The fact that the tiniest features of the cloud appear preserved between the two images gives an appreciation for how big it is. The two photos are taken 27 years apart

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#98

Post by officialjunk »

edvards wrote: post #95
nuccy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Webb observes "much further" into the IR [1]. 1. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hu... (this image is from [2]) 2. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-vs-webb-on-the-s...

Does this mean what Hubble sees is actually closer to what I'd see with my own eyes than Hubble, or Hubble's version is closer?

yes, hubble's image is closer to what you could see with your eyes, since we also (mostly) sensitive to visible light. the zoom magnification is different, though, of course.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#99

Post by rainbringer2000 »

technonerd wrote: post #27
bearjaws wrote: post #11

Also look at the comparison to the Hubble image. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/st... Impressive to see the infrared spectrum seeing through all the background gas to the millions of stars.

Handy Dandy Slider action between the two! https://esawebb.org/images/comparisons/weic2216/

It will be fascinating to see what other objects hubble captured over the years look like in higher definition

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#100

Post by throwoutway »

xeromal wrote: post #34
abcc8 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the comparison is (rightly) meant to highlight the different imaging capabilities of the two telescopes.

But if the hubble can take an infrared picture, that would be a better comparison point, no?

Both can be true. Maybe an analogy would be a car vs truck, or photo camera vs video camera. They’re the same things but provide different value.
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