by Walrus
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, we may be sprawled in the gutter of war but some of us are looking up at the stars…
The James Webb space telescope has transmitted its first image of a star as part of its mirror alignment process. According to the linked article everything is going as per plan.
https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-alignment-photo
Comment: Life goes on……
“But we were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may be converted into battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems, not our corpses.”
– Robert Ardrey, African Genesis
Reading this during the Summer before high school was a religious experience for me. And this was when I was still an alter boy and felt a calling to become a Maryknoll missionary priest. I see the same sentiment in the promise of the James Webb Space Telescope, the continuing cooperation with the ISS, the beautiful music in the subways of Kyiv and streets of Lviv and in so many other things.
In 6 weeks we’re likely to see the first images from 13.5 billion years in the past. What will we discover?
Thank you Walrus for this bit of perspective as well as distraction from war.
Walrus,
I beg to differ slightly, it’s not going according to plan…It’s going better than planned. The resolution obtained has “exceeded all expectations”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiGx8xv6xjE
When do we see the Exoplanets?