Miri (Mid-Infrared Instrument) is one of four instruments aboard the observatory James Webb (JWST). This is a set comprising a wide-field imager, coronagraphsa spectrometer low resolution and a mid-resolution integral field spectrometer. Of the four JWST instruments, Miri is the only one that will observe in the thermal infrared (between 5 and 28 microns). Like the other three instruments, it is housed inside the Isim (Integrated Science Instrument Module) which also houses many subsystems.
Miri, a JWST instrument for studying planets, stars and galaxies in infrared light
Compared to other similar instruments, including the one on board the space telescope Spitzer of the NasaMiri’s detectors achieve a sensitivity of about 50 times that of Spitzer with seven times greater angular resolution.
As explained by the Department of Astrophysics of the CEA, Miri is supposed to contribute in a preponderant way to the four main research themes for which the JWST was built, which are to study the formation and the evolution of galaxies which present a red shift greater than z = 5, but also the mechanisms physical that govern the training of stars and planets, the study of protoplanetary discsthe nucleosynthesis of the first elements other than thehydrogen and thehelium (that astronomers call the “heavy” elements), and the search for supports for the appearance of life.
The main scientific objectives of Miri are to make it possible to study:
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