Among them is a University of Montreal physicist who will examine TRAPPIST-1 planets. Canadian scientists will lead or co-lead a 10th of the telescope’s first cycle of projects. It is there, and throughout the Webb project, that Canada contributes. Part of Aquarius, for the astrologically minded. A few of the most promising orbit the star TRAPPIST-1, a hop, skip and a jump away, a bit less than 40 light-years. In 2010-11, the Kepler space telescope saw the first rocky planet outside this solar system, a mere 560 light-years away. The Webb will try to discern variations of light that could show “biosignature gases” in an atmosphere – a testament to life.

But the other mission that has a shot to make us rethink life as we know it is to stare at rocky planets that seem similar to ours. It will also gaze closer to home at planets such as Neptune. Looking even further back is the first of the Webb telescope’s four primary missions. It was a picture of the past never before imagined. The result – the Hubble Deep Field – revealed a “bewildering variety” of primordial galaxies. For 100 hours, the Hubble turned to look at nothing – a sliver of darkness. The Hubble unveiled glorious images and, in 1995, propelled humanity’s understanding of the universe’s formation. Launched in 1990, with its focus adjusted by astronauts in 1993, the Hubble is an optical telescope in orbit 600 kilometres above the Earth. The Webb telescope picks up where the Hubble Space Telescope left off. The wavelengths of once-visible light stretched out into electromagnetic radiation over their long journey from the universe’s ancient past to our present. The goal is to absorb light emitted from the first stars and galaxies as they formed 13.6 billion or so years ago, and as far back as 100 million years after the Big Bang. This requires something colder than the worst of Canadian winter: -223 C. The gold-plated telescope, 6.5 metres in diameter, will be a collector of infrared light, invisible to the eye but felt as heat. It will be close enough to easily keep touch with Earth, draw on solar power, and, with a five-layer sunshield of human-hair-thin plastic, keep itself chilled out. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, for Resource Browserġ GHz (1.Gravity of Earth and sun will help keep the telescope in position. I would unequivocally recommend this program to anyone with a serious interest in lunar studies, whether the studies involve visual observation, lunar photography, or just armchair observing.” “WHAT A RELIEF! Improvements continue to pour out of the developers at RITI…incorporates three-dimensional viewing capabilities.”Ībsolutely fascinating - how I wish some of my long-gone BAA friends could have lived to see it. Here is what some people have said about Lunar Map Pro™:

Organizes your image collection and personal notes.

Prints maps or 3D images or export as a JPEG.

Provides real-time ephemeris data for your location such as moonrise, moonset, RA, DEC, Age of Lunation, Illumination %, and more.Measures the distances and sizes of lunar features.Provides NASA lunar texture map, 3 interactive geology maps and RITI vector map.Shows real-time lunar phases for any time and date between 1970 AD and 2100 AD.Contains extensive database of nearly 8,200 nearside and farside features.Provides Orthographic view of the lunar globe from anywhere in space.Creates 3D terrain model and visualization of lunar surface.Emulates the view through your own telescope and eyepieces.Wood Lunar 100, it has the most comprehensive lunar library to date. With a database of 8,200 + features including landing sites, the complete USGS database domes and the Charles A.

Designed and built on a Geographic Information System, it provides pin-point navigational accuracy (libration and ephemeris) and offers high-resolution maps to match your telescope view. It is a complete and comprehensive lunar mapping and 3D terrain modeling software, developed for those amateur astronomers, astronomy students, and lunar observers who wish to deeply explore our nearest celestial object in astounding detail. Walking on the moon is a small step with Lunar Map Pro.

Raster and vector Lunar data with vector geology layer. Lunar view from space showing the far side

Sky and telescope moon globe