General Question

gorillapaws's avatar

If you were in charge of the James Webb Space Telescope, what questions would you prioritize answering about the cosmos?

Asked by gorillapaws (30864points) February 16th, 2022

If you were put in charge of prioritizing the time of where the JWST was pointing and the questions it was trying to answer, what questions would you focus on first, second, etc? Understanding the earliest stars and the formation of the universe? Examining exoplanets? Trying to learn more about fundamental physics questions? Looking closer to home at objects in/near our solar system? Something else?

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9 Answers

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LuckyGuy's avatar

I’d like to find Exoplanets that have an atmosphere. I’d start by looking at the handful already identified using our old technology and seeing how much more information we can extract.

A planet with an atmosphere has the best chance of harboring life.

ragingloli's avatar

All the star systems suspected to harbour ALIENS.
You know, like Zeta Reticuli, and KIC 8462852.

kritiper's avatar

What IS that red spot on Jupiter? They say it’s a giant storm but I think it looks like a giant sand dune blowing in the wind…

rebbel's avatar

I don’t know whether it’s capable of doing so, but I would also like a new high definition image of Earth.
And while we’re at it, all the heavenly bodies of our solar system.

gorillapaws's avatar

@rebbel It can’t point at Earth or it would damage the sensitive electronics, also it doesn’t capture light in the visible range, so it would be kind of like this but for heavenly bodies.

Brian1946's avatar

Why are there so few galaxies in the Bootes Void and the Eridanus Supervoid?

rebbel's avatar

@gorillapaws Thank you for your answer!
It’s disappointing that I had forgotten already what wavelength it uses to image…

JLoon's avatar

I’d love to be on the team deciding where to point that thing!

But JWST mission science directors have said they’ve already gathered enough research proposals to fill at least the first 5 years of operations.

On my list would be:

• Collecting more data on the nature of the “dark matter/dark energy” that makes up over 80% of the universe.
• Searching for evidence of a paralell universe in the “cold spot” located in the center of overall background radiation.
• Getting an accurate measure on the rate of cosmic expansion resulting from the big bang.

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