Paris, June 18, 2007
With a light collecting area almost ten times greater than HST and instruments sensitive to infrared radiation, JWST will be able to detect radiation emitted billions of years ago. This will make it possible to probe the very early universe and to observe the first “luminous" objects with which it was lit up around 13 billion years ago. We have little understanding of how the Universe evolved when it was less than a billion years old. JWST's exploration of this period will provide valuable information about the first sources of light (such as when they appeared and what they are made) and their role in matter reionization, upon which the formation of successive celestial bodies depended.
Since it can conduct observations in thermal infrared (wavelengths from 5 to 27 microns), the MIRI instrument will be critical in ensuring that the objects observed truly date from the very early universe. Among other tasks, MIRI will also be used to conduct “coronographic” observations of stars near our own planet. "This observation method is used to prevent the glare from a close star from dazzling the detector; we can then probe the star's environment and discover exoplanets, the rather faint objects around them and dust disks, etc." explains Pierre-Olivier Lagage (CEA/Dapnia), Scientific Leader of French MIRI contribution.
MIRI is composed of two main sub-assemblies: an imager and a spectrometer. French contribution consists of producing and supplying the imager. The CEA has just delivered a prototype of this imager to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL,
© CEA The validation prototype of the French part of the MIRI device being inspected before delivery.
The validation prototype of the French part of the MIRI device being inspected before delivery.
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