Webb recently trained its Near Infrared Spectrometer, or NIRSpec instrument, on the supermassive black hole at the heart of the leading galaxy seen in the Webb image of Stephan’s Quintet, one of the first five color Webb images released by NASA and the . agencies on July 12. The image shows five galaxies in seemingly close proximity, although the fifth is actually much closer to Earth. Spectrometers break light into its constituent wavelengths, and since different elements absorb light at known wavelengths, the resulting spectrum allows scientists to determine the chemical composition of light-emitting material or light-emitting diodes. And since NIRSpec is an infrared spectrometer, it was able to gather a spectrum from the supermassive black despite being covered in stardust. The result, the European Space Agency explained in an image and a series of Twitter posts, is that Webb saw the supermassive black hole at wavelengths never seen before, corresponding to atomic hydrogen, molecular hydrogen, or two atoms of hydrogen bonded together. electrically charged iron ions in the gas surrounding the black hole. A visualization of the chemical composition and structure of a supermassive black hole made possible by the James Webb Space Telescopes Near Infrared Spectrometer instrument (ESA) Taken together, NIRSpec analysis of this data allowed scientists to map the structure of the gas flowing into the black hole to be consumed, as well as the outflows, the gas ejected by powerful jets of radiation created by the intense compression of gas and swirling dust. around the black hole. NIRSpec is a powerful instrument for understanding the chemical composition and structure of distant objects, and a tool scientists will use to study not only black holes, but also stars, galaxies and planets. A spectrum of the exoplanet Wasp-96b taken with NIRSpec as another of the first five WEbb images released to the public. NIRSpec was built by a collection of European companies for ESA, with the European Space Agency being one of three partner agencies that built the Webb telescope, which also includes Nasa and the Canadian Space Agency. After more than 20 years of development, $10 billion and months of development and calibration, Webb is now engaged in science almost constantly, so the pace of new discoveries and images is likely to be faster than anyone has seen before. .
