The James Webb Space Telescope

[lpetrich]

Orbital Insertion Burn a Success, Webb Arrives at L2 – James Webb Space Telescope

At 2pm EST, JWST did a 5-minute (297 s) burn of its engines to get into its halo orbit around L2. That burn made a delta-V of only 1.6 m/s (5.8 km/h, 3.6 mph) -- a typical human walking speed -- but it was enough.

“Webb, welcome home!” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Congratulations to the team for all of their hard work ensuring Webb’s safe arrival at L2 today. We’re one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. And I can’t wait to see Webb’s first new views of the universe this summer!”

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " Home, home on Lagrange! We successfully completed our burn to start #NASAWebb on its orbit of the 2nd Lagrange point (L2), about a million miles (1.5 million km) from Earth. It will orbit the Sun, in line with Earth, as it orbits L2. (link) #UnfoldTheUniverse (vid link)" / Twitter
then
NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Want to know what’s next for #NASAWebb? Ask your questions on today’s NASA Science Live, happening at 3 pm ET (20:00 UTC) using #UnfoldTheUniverse. Watch: (links)" / Twitter
noting
NASA Science Live: What’s Next for the James Webb Space Telescope? - YouTube

NASA on Twitter: "NOW: Media telecon with @NASAWebb mission experts on the space telescope's mirror movements and successful orbital insertion burn: (links)" / Twitter

NASA Space Communications and Navigation on Twitter: ".@NASAWebb is nearing L2! So, how does @NASA communicate with spacecraft that are thousands or even millions of miles from Earth?

The Deep Space Network, that’s how! Operators at the #DSN precisely aim giant radio antennas at spacecraft and send commands using radio waves. (vid link)" / Twitter

About the Deep Space Network | NASA

The DSN consists of three facilities spaced equidistant from each other – approximately 120 degrees apart in longitude – around the world. These sites are at Goldstone, near Barstow, California; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. The strategic placement of these sites permits constant communication with spacecraft as our planet rotates – before a distant spacecraft sinks below the horizon at one DSN site, another site can pick up the signal and carry on communicating.

 

[lpetrich]

NASA Science Live: What’s Next for the James Webb Space Telescope? - YouTube

The host interviewed two JWST team members online. She was wearing earrings that looked like miniature versions of JWST's primary mirror. A team member was wearing a T-shirt with a depiction of JWST's primary mirror printed on it.

The team answered lots of questions, like what is JWST's orbit period around L2. 180 days, about half a year. They also said that JWST will be observing some Solar-System targets, though nothing inside of the Earth's orbit to protect the telescope proper from direct sunlight.

Also, how JWST's observation targets will be chosen. The way that the Hubble Space Telescope's targets are chosen. Anyone can submit a proposal, and the JWST team will then assess each proposal, as the HST team does.

They also said that the JWST observation data is to be released at most a year after it is taken. Some researchers may want to keep their data for themselves so they don't get scooped by rival researchers, and such eventual release seems like a good compromise.

 

[lpetrich]

Cycle 1 GO - General Observer Programs

The Cycle 1 General Observers (GO) program provides the worldwide astronomical community with the first extensive opportunity to make observations with JWST. Approximately 6,000 hours were awarded to observing programs using the full suite of JWST instrumentation. Scientists also proposed for archival analysis of data from DD ERS programs and public GTO programs, theoretical investigations, and the development of software tools relevant to JWST observations. Science observations will begin following a 6-month commissioning period after launch.

Amount of observing time:
Small - 25 hr - Medium - 75 hr - Large

Cycle 1 GTO - Guaranteed Time Observations Program

The JWST Guaranteed Time Observations (GTO) program is designed to reward scientists who helped develop the key hardware and software components or technical and inter-disciplinary knowledge for the observatory. The program provides a total of about 16% use of the observatory over the first 3 cycles of operation. "

Each "cycle" is one year, with the first one starting with the expected commissioning of the telescope five months from now.

• Solar System - everything outside the Earth's orbit: Mars, the outer planets, their moons, asteroids, comets, trans-Neptunian objects
• Stars and the interstellar medium - brown dwarfs, protostars, star-forming nebulae, supernova remnants, star clusters
• Exoplanets and dust disks
• Galaxies, active galactic nuclei, quasars, supermassive black holes, galaxy clusters, the intergalactic medium

 

[lpetrich]

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " Whew, we found parking space! #ICYMI, yesterday Webb fired its thrusters for about 5 minutes to insert itself toward its orbit of Lagrange point 2 (L2), nearly 1 million miles (1.5 million km) away.

Watch to learn more about what makes L2 special
#UnfoldTheUniverse (vid link)" / Twitter

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "We’ve deleted a previous tweet to clarify our fun fact: Our mirrors are made of beryllium. Even against beryllium’s bending stiffness per weight, which is 6 times greater than that of ordinary steel, the actuators can individually shape the curvature of each mirror segment." / Twitter

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Coming up next for #NASAWebb: our engineers will begin the sophisticated 3-month process of aligning the telescope’s optics to nearly nanometer precision!

Watch the video below to learn more #UnfoldTheUniverse (vid link)" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Elements of Webb:

#12: How the JWST identifies chemical elements: with spectroscopy
NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Oh yeah, it's all coming together: The elements that make up #NASAWebb were selected to design the ultimate element-seeker.

In our “Elements of Webb” finale, learn how Webb could potentially find the building blocks of life on other worlds. #UnfoldTheUniverse (vid link)" / Twitter

Rather simplistic, but it gets the basic idea. There is more to be said, however.

Spectral lines come from state transitions, and there are several kinds of state that are involved.

Atoms and molecules have electronic states, their electrons going into different orbitals, essentially standing waves. Their quantized energies are just like the restricted possible frequencies of standing waves.  Standing wave

Electrons have built-in angular momentum or spin, something that makes a magnetic field, and this can interact with the magnetic fields of their orbits, thus making spin-orbit interactions. These have much less energy than electronic states, and these make fine structure in the spectrum. That's where the "fine structure constant" gets its name. It's essentially a dimensionless square of the electric charge, and electron spin-orbit interactions are about (FSC)² or 10^-4 times as energetic as overall electronic ones.

Atomic nuclei may also have spin, and that may interact with electron spins, making a spin-spin interaction. That makes even smaller scale structure: "hyperfine", about (mass of electron) / (mass of proton) smaller, or 10^-3 times smaller than fine-structure features, or 10^-7 electronic features.

Molecules have some additional spectral features: vibrational and rotational. Vibrational energy states from their nuclei moving much slower than their electrons, meaning that a molecule can be modeled in ball-and-spring fashion. Rotational energy states are from molecules rotating. Vibrational energy values are about sqrt( (electron mass) / (nucleus mass) ) times electronic ones, and rotational energy values about (electron mass) / (nucleus mass) electronic ones.

Electronic + vibrational transitions: vibronic
Vibrational + rotational transitions: rovibrational

JWST will be able to see vibrational and rotational spectral lines of relatively near stuff and heavily-redshifted electronic spectral lines in very distant galaxies.

 

[lpetrich]

Methods and Roadmaps - JWST User Documentation
Spectroscopic Modes of the JWST's four instruments

The JWST can do both imaging and spectroscopy, with three modes of spectroscopy:

• Slitted
• Slitless -- uses a disperser for the light going to the imager, making a spectrum of each object on the image.
• Multi-object -- a sort of multi-slit spectroscope

Its spectroscopes have varying resolutions, going up to 3150 for some wavelengths.

Some of JWST's instruments can be used in parallel, doing additional observations of the same object.

 

[lpetrich]

JWST Moving Target Observations - JWST User Documentation - has a big list of Solar-System objects that JWST may target.

"Moving", here, is moving relative to an inertial frame, rotational rest and a sort of Universe-wide average rotation.

Science Flyer: Observations of Mars (2018) - JWST-Mars.pdf

The JWST “speed limit” for tracking is 30 mas/s, the maximum rate of motion of Mars as seen from the spacecraft. JWST will permit instantaneous measurements of the whole observable disk at very high spatial resolutions, allowing for the investigation of transient events near the day/night terminator, diurnal (East-West) and seasonal (North-South) phenomena, and the rapid vaporization of polar ices and of other volatile reservoirs.

Then talking about what the JWST may see on Mars.

• Two visibility windows occur ~6 months apart every ~2 years and last ~75–100 days (me: 2.5 - 3.3 months)
• Most windows will sample the southern cap; polar caps only observed when illuminated
• Most of the observable disk will be in daytime (84-93%)
• When approaching, the evening terminator will be sampled, while the morning terminator will be sampled when receding

 

[lpetrich]

Science Flyer: Observations of Giant Planets (2019) - JWST-Giant-Planets.pdf
Will be visible about every 6 months for about 50 days (1.6 months).

JWST's Solar-System targets: Mars, the outer planets, their moons and rings, asteroids, comets, and trans-Neptunian objects (I forgot rings earlier)

The Webb Team Looks Back on Successful Deployments – James Webb Space Telescope

The team also turned on the High-Gain Antenna, enabling downlink to Earth through the Deep Space Network using the Ka radio band. The Ka-band provides a much higher data rate than the S-band that Webb has been using for communications up until now. The Ka-band and the High-Gain Antenna will eventually allow the observatory to send all of the science images and data down to the ground for astronomers around the world to analyze and make discoveries.

...
Next up: HD 84406! That is the first star Webb will point at to gather engineering data to start the mirror alignment process. The team chose a bright star (magnitude 6.7 at a distance of about 260 light-years, as measured by Gaia). The star is a sun-like G star in the Ursa Major constellation, which can be seen by Webb at this time of the year. This is just the first step; HD 84406 will be too bright to study with Webb once the telescope starts to come into focus. But for now, it is the perfect target to begin our search for photons, a search that will lead us to the distant universe.

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Ready for some high-speed Webb surfing? ..." / Twitter

Ready for some high-speed Webb surfing?

This week, our team turned on Webb's high-gain antenna, which helps enable a much higher data rate than the radio band Webb had been using until now, and will eventually allow Webb to send back all its images & data. #UnfoldTheUniverse
(pic link)

Star light, star bright…the first star Webb will see is HD 84406, a Sun-like star about 260 light years away. While it will be too bright for Webb to study once the telescope is in focus, it’s a perfect target for Webb to gather engineering data & start mirror alignment.
(vid link)

Look back on our successful first month after launch by reading our latest blog post, with a contribution by #NASAWebb project manager Bill Ochs: (link)

 

[lpetrich]

NASA Ames on Twitter: "Even from a million miles away, we’ll be watching you.

Our researchers will lead over 400 hours of observations in @NASAWebb's 1st year so that we can learn how exoplanets form, what they’re made of, and if any might be habitable: https://t.co/VlulmboKpl #UnfoldTheUniverse (link)" / Twitter
noting
How NASA in Silicon Valley Will Use Webb to Study Distant Worlds | NASA

Following Webb’s Arrival at L2, Telescope Commissioning Set to Begin – James Webb Space Telescope

... powering on all the science instruments, turning off heaters to begin a long cooldown process, and ultimately capturing the first photons on Webb’s primary camera to enable a months-long alignment of the telescope.

While the MIRI instrument and some instrument components were powered on in the weeks after Webb’s Dec. 25 launch, the team didn’t finish turning on the remaining three instruments – NIRCam, NIRSpec, and FGS/NIRISS – until the past few days.

The mission operations team’s next major step is to turn off instrument heaters. The heaters were necessary to keep critical optics warm to prevent the risk of water and ice condensation. As the instruments meet pre-defined criteria for overall temperatures, the team is shutting off these heaters to allow the instruments to restart the months-long process of cooling to final temperatures.

When NIRCam reaches 120 K, they will start adjusting the primary mirror segments.
NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "#NASAWebb’s instruments all have “power-ups!” They have all been powered-on and are going through check-outs. Next steps have them cooling to final operating temperatures and getting ready to see starlight. #unfoldtheuniverse

Read more: (links)" / Twitter

Where Is Webb? NASA/Webb
With cruising speed 202 m/s or Mach 0.610 relative to the speed of sound in air at 0 C.

Much lower than its maximum of around 11,000 m/s or Mach 33 at the beginning of its transfer orbit.

 

[lpetrich]

Photons Incoming: Webb Team Begins Aligning the Telescope – James Webb Space Telescope
This is what the Webb team expects to do over the next three months.

The process:

1. Segment Image Identification
2. Segment Alignment
3. Image Stacking
4. Coarse Phasing
5. Fine Phasing
6. Telescope Alignment Over Instrument Fields of View
7. Iterate Alignment for Final Correction

1. Segment Image Identification

...
One by one, we will move the 18 mirror segments to determine which segment creates which segment image. After matching the mirror segments to their respective images, we can tilt the mirrors to bring all the images near a common point for further analysis. We call this arrangement an “image array.”

As I expected. They'd have to move each of the segments to distinguish them.

2. Segment Alignment

After we have the image array, we can perform Segment Alignment, which corrects most of the large positioning errors of the mirror segments.

Before: out-of-focus. After: in-focus.

3. Image Stacking

To put all of the light in a single place, each segment image must be stacked on top of one another. In the Image Stacking step, we move the individual segment images so that they fall precisely at the center of the field to produce one unified image. This process prepares the telescope for Coarse Phasing.

Before: separate images. After: all segments' images at one spot.

4. Coarse Phasing

5. Fine Phasing

These stages adjust the segments inward and outward to make their reflected light arrive in phase at the detectors.

6. Telescope Alignment Over Instrument Fields of View

After Fine Phasing, the telescope will be well aligned at one place in the NIRCam field of view. Now we need to extend the alignment to the rest of the instruments.

7. Iterate Alignment for Final Correction

After applying the Field of View correction, the key thing left to address is the removal of any small, residual positioning errors in the primary mirror segments. We measure and make corrections using the Fine Phasing process. We will do a final check of the image quality across each of the science instruments; once this is verified, the wavefront sensing and controls process will be complete.

As the Webb team aligns their telescope, they may have to repeat earlier steps as necessary.

 

[Elixir]

As the Webb team aligns their telescope, they may have to repeat earlier steps as necessary.

I liken it to tuning a many-stringed instrument, where the tension on one string effects all the others. In order to get them all correct, it is usually necessary to tune one, tune them all against that one, then start over because tuning the rest effected the first, and so on. Eventually you get the sound...

 

[lpetrich]

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " Our NIRCam instrument's detectors saw their 1st photons of starlight! While #NASAWebb is not yet ready for science, this is the first of many steps to capture images that are at first unfocused, used to slowly fine-tune the optics: (link) #UnfoldTheUniverse (pic link)" / Twitter

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Similar to test shots in photography, the images taken by #NASAWebb during this period will not be “pretty” images like the new views of the universe Webb will unveil later this summer. They strictly serve the purpose of preparing the telescope for science." / Twitter

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "In our latest blog post, @BallAerospace & @NASAGoddard experts explain how we’ll meticulously align #NASAWebb’s mirror segments in 7 phases over 3 months. Our initial results match expectations & simulations. Check (link) for updates to come! #UnfoldTheUniverse" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

National Air and Space Museum on Twitter: "For three decades, @NASAHubble has changed how we view our universe, and we can't wait for what @NASAWebb will reveal. In the latest episode of @STEMin30, we explore how these space telescopes look into the past to #UnfoldTheUniverse. Watch now: (links)" / Twitter
How the Webb and Hubble Telescopes Look into the Past - STEM in 30 - YouTube

The same way that any other sort of observation does so, by the observation medium taking a nonzero amount of time to travel. That's why thunder arrives noticeably after one sees lightning -- sound travels much lower than light: about 350 m/s vs. 299,792,458 m/s -- almost a million times slower.

With enough distance, the travel time of light can be very great.

The farthest thing that we can observe is the  Cosmic microwave background, something nearly 14 billion years old, at a Universe age of 400 thousand years.

 List of the most distant astronomical objects -- the current record holder is  GN-z11 at a redshift of 11.09 -- it was observed in the infrared by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. It is at a Universe age of 400 million years, with a light travel time of around 13 billion years.

The JWST will be able to observe even younger galaxies.

 

[lpetrich]

Ned Wright's Cosmology Calculator - enter some parameter values and an object's redshift, and find its age.

Elements of Webb narrator: Sophia Roberts

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " #ICYMI: Webb made light work of…light work! Having seen its first photons of starlight, #NASAWebb has begun the 3-month process of getting its mirrors into focus so it can start science this summer: https://t.co/sGUqPaihnQ #UnfoldTheUniverse
Learn more about Webb’s optics
(vid link)" / Twitter

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "🌬 Water. Earth. Fire. Air — wait, wrong elements!
Our “Elements of Webb” series shows what makes up the world’s most powerful space telescope, including gold, beryllium, carbon & more. See our full playlist: (link)
We believe Webb can change the world (vid link)" / Twitter
noting
Elements of Webb - YouTube - playlist of the EoW videos

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Sorry, if this is a repeat, but I read somewhere the the Webb Telescope will be able to see so far back in time, it'll be able to witness when it was first being developed.

 

[lpetrich]

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " For your consideration…

#NASAWebb may not be part of today’s #OscarNoms, but winners will have NASA technology to thank. Webb’s MIRI instrument has a cooling tube that uses the same gold plating technique as the one used for @TheAcademy’s trophies: (links)" / Twitter
noting
NASA’s Space Technology That Shines at the Oscars | NASA

JWST's builders used Epner Technology's method of electroplating, deposition with electric current.


NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " Ever wanted to know how cosmic pizzas are created? #NASAWebb will help us find the recipe! One of Webb's primary goals is to study galaxy formation & evolution: (link)" / Twitter
noting
NASA Universe on Twitter: " When the stars hit your eyes like a big pizza pie, that's a galaxy.

Like a cosmic pizza, galaxies are sprinkled with all sorts of “toppings” — stars, other worlds, and even black holes. #NationalPizzaDay

What cosmic topping would you put on your ultimate galaxy pie? (pic link)" / Twitter

Also noting
Back to the Beginning: Probing the First Galaxies with Webb | NASA

 

[lpetrich]

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Media are invited to learn more about progress from the first weeks of #NASAWebb’s 3-month mirror alignment process: (link) #UnfoldTheUniverse
Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. ET (16:00 UTC)
@NASAGoddard, @SpaceTelescope & @UArizona experts (link)" / Twitter
noting
NASA to Discuss Webb Telescope Progress, Mirror Alignment | NASA


Webb Is Chilling Out – James Webb Space Telescope
At that writing, the primary mirror segments ranged from 45 K to 61 K, and the secondary mirror at 35 K. The instruments were at 70 K.

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " #NASAWebb is chilling out in space! Both its mirrors & its instruments are being cooled to their frigid operating temperatures. Why do infrared telescopes have to be so cold, and how do we cool them? Read more in today’s blog: (link) #UnfoldTheUniverse (pic link)" / Twitter

Showing a picture of the JWST inside a giant vacuum chamber used to test satellites in outer-space conditions.

 

[lpetrich]

Photons Received: Webb Sees Its First Star – 18 Times – James Webb Space Telescope

Showing a picture with 18 images of a star, with each image being for one primary-mirror segment. The blog entry also has a picture of each image labeled with which segment, so JWST's operators have started their alignment process.

Also shows a primary-mirror selfie, an image taken with a special lens on NIRCam, what is being used for imaging at this stage. One segment looks very bright, from reflecting light from a relatively bright star.

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "The 18 random dots ..." / Twitter

The 18 random dots featured in this video might not look like much, but they represent a big step forward in #NASAWebb’s 3-month mirror alignment process and its quest to #UnfoldTheUniverse: (link)

Let’s connect the dots with a thread (vid link)

️ These dots confirm that Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, or NIRCam, can collect light from celestial objects — and that starlight from the same star can be reflected from each of Webb’s 18 unaligned mirror segments back at Webb’s secondary mirror and then into NIRCam’s detectors. (pic link)

️ Our team first chose a bright, isolated star called HD 84406. Over ~25 hours, Webb was repointed to 156 positions around the star's predicted location, generating 1560 images with NIRCam’s 10 detectors. This is just the center of an image mosaic with over 2 billion pixels! (pic link)

️ Because the dots could have been spread out, the initial search covered an area about the size of the full Moon. Our team found light from all 18 mirror segments very near the center early in the search, closely matching expectations & simulations. (pic link)

️ Each dot visible is the same star as imaged by each of Webb’s 18 primary mirror segments. Here, you can see which dot corresponds to which mirror segment, including the dots taken by the segments on Webb’s mirror wings. (pic link)

️ Right now, as Webb is still getting into focus, you can think of Webb as an 18-eyed creature looking in 18 separate directions. A larger dot indicates that the segment is less focused than a smaller dot. A flatter, pancake-like dot indicates that a segment may be tilted.

️ In the coming weeks, our team will align & focus each of these 18 dots, then stack the dots on top of each other to form a single point — one unified image from all of Webb’s 18 mirror segments. What’s ahead: (links)

Then, Webb’s images will only become clearer and more detail-laden as its instruments arrive at their intended operating temperatures and start capturing data. All of this will culminate in our spectacular first scientific images, expected this summer. #UnfoldTheUniverse

 

[lpetrich]

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Bonus image! ..." / Twitter

Bonus image! When it’s time to focus, sometimes you need to take a good look at yourself.

This “selfie” taken by Webb of its primary mirror was not captured by an externally mounted engineering camera, but with a special lens within its NIRCam instrument. #UnfoldTheUniverse

This special lens is meant for engineering, not science, and allows NIRCam to capture an “inward-looking” image of the primary mirror. This image helps us to check that the telescope is aligned with the science instruments. (link)

What you are seeing is the actual primary mirror of Webb as it observes its engineering target, a bright star. All the mirror segments are seeing starlight, but the bright segment is bright because, from NIRCam’s view, the segment is directly aligned with the star.

Over the next 3 months, we will be aligning each mirror segment individually so that all 18 reflections of this star are precisely overlayed until the telescope only sees a single, focused star. #ICYMI, check out this video
(an earlier post)

It's a pleasant surprise to see this picture of part of JWST from itself. I remember thinking that the video from the upper rocket stage would be the last resolved pictures that we'd ever see of JWST.

 

[lpetrich]

Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) on Twitter: "Hey @NASAWebb you’re the talk of the solar system, and so… we were just wondering if you’d be our long-distance valentine. #ValentinesDay (vid link)" / Twitter
then
NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Happy #ValentinesDay to a great pair, @JPSSProgram!
@NASAMars is red
@NASAEarth is blue
Webb sees in infrared
And so do you! " / Twitter

NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Hey @NASARoman, to us you don’t just have a huge field of view — you'd be a dream view! #ValentinesDay

Want to send your own #NASAValentines? Here you go: (links)" / Twitter
noting
Happy Valentine's Day! from NASA

Then
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Twitter: "Am I caught in your @NASAWebb because I am stuck on you Want to send your own out-of-this-world #ValentinesDay cards? #NASAValentines. (link)" / Twitter
noting
GMS: Astrophysics Valentines

 Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope - formerly the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope or WFIRST
Now scheduled to launch no later than 2027

NASA Space Communications and Navigation on Twitter: "One million miles from Earth makes the heart grow fonder. You're looking good out there, @NASAWebb!

Our Deep Space Network will keep us in touch this #ValentinesDay.

#NASAValentines (pic link)" / Twitter
then
NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: "Thanks, @NASASCaN! We love that even with the long distance, the Deep Space Network’s got our connection feeling as strong as ever ❤ Happy #ValentinesDay!" / Twitter

NASA Sun & Space on Twitter: "At L2, I will always hold on to you, @NASAWebb – with my gravitational force #ValentinesDay (vid link)" / Twitter
then
NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter: " Aw, shucks! You will always be my sunshine, @NASASun — supplying energy to my instruments! #ValentinesDay" / Twitter

NASA Goddard on Twitter: "Happy Valentine’s Day! Check out these Valentines from all across the universe!

️
(vid link)" / Twitter
Showing some video of some material being blasted out from the Sun's surface, imaged in the H-alpha spectral line, with the caption "You light up my life"