The team has actually successfully worked through the 2nd and third out of 7 overall stages of mirror positioning. With the completion of these phases, called Segment Alignment and Image Stacking, the group will now begin making smaller adjustments to the positions of Webbs mirrors.
The team is now beginning the 4th phase of mirror positioning, understood as Coarse Phasing, where NIRCam is used to catch light spectra from 20 different pairings of mirror segments. This assists the team identify and fix vertical displacement in between the mirror sectors, or small differences in their heights.
The group is now starting the 4th stage of mirror positioning, known as Coarse Phasing, where NIRCam is utilized to capture light spectra from 20 separate pairings of mirror sectors. This assists the team recognize and remedy vertical displacement in between the mirror segments, or little distinctions in their heights. This will make the single dot of starlight gradually sharper and more focused in the coming weeks.
This gif shows the “in the past” and “after” images from Segment Alignment, when the team remedied big placing mistakes of its primary mirror sectors and upgraded the positioning of the secondary mirror. Credit: NASA/STScI
Once Segment Alignment was accomplished, the focused dots reflected by each mirror were then stacked on top of each other, providing photons of light from each segment to the very same location on NIRCams sensing unit. Throughout this process, called Image Stacking, the group triggered sets of 6 mirrors at a time and commanded them to repoint their light to overlap, until all dots of starlight overlapped with each other.
Throughout this stage of positioning known as Image Stacking, private section images are moved so they fall precisely at the center of the field to produce one combined image rather of 18. In this image, all 18 segments are on top of each other.
” We still have work to do, however we are progressively pleased with the outcomes were seeing,” said Lee Feinberg, optical telescope aspect manager for Webb at NASAs Goddard Space Flight. “Years of preparation and testing are paying dividends, and the group could not be more thrilled to see what the next couple of weeks and months bring.”
Although Image Stacking put all the light from a star in one place on NIRCams detector, the mirror sectors are still acting as 18 little telescopes rather than one huge one. The segments now need to be lined up to each other with an accuracy smaller than the wavelength of the light.
Webb continues on its course to ending up being a concentrated observatory. The group has effectively worked through the 3rd and second out of seven total phases of mirror alignment. With the completion of these phases, called Segment Alignment and Image Stacking, the team will now start making smaller adjustments to the positions of Webbs mirrors.
This hexagonal image variety captured by the NIRCam instrument reveals the development made throughout the Segment Alignment phase, additional lining up Webbs 18 main mirror sections and secondary mirror utilizing exact motions commanded from the ground. Credit: NASA/STScI
After moving what were 18 spread dots of starlight into Webbs signature hexagonal development, the group refined each mirror sectors image by making small modifications, while also altering the alignment of Webbs secondary mirror. The completion of this procedure, known as Segment Alignment, was a crucial action prior to overlapping the light from all the mirrors so that they can operate in unison.
