The telescope will enable astronomers to peer back further in time than ever to when the first stars and galaxies were forming 13.7 billion years ago.
The telescope will be able to peer into the farthest reaches of space. The data it collects will allow scientists to better understand the formation of stars and galaxies.A sunshield as big as a tennis court stretched open on the telescope in early January, 1 1/2 weeks after the Christmas Day launch from French Guiana. The observatory’s gold-coated mirror — 21 feet across — unfolded a few days later.
Monday’s thruster firing put the telescope into orbit around the sun at the so-called second Lagrange point, where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth balance. The 7-ton spacecraft always faces Earth’s night side to keep its infrared detectors as frigid as possible.Meet the people bringing us answers on the big bang, and their 13,000-pound helper
The James Webb Space Telescope launches to space Christmas Day, the culmination of two decades of work: ‘It feels like we sprinted a marathon.’ Considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, which orbits 330 miles up, Webb is too far away for emergency repairs. That makes the milestones over the last month — and the ones ahead — all the more critical.
Spacewalking astronauts performed work five times on Hubble. The first operation, in 1993, corrected the telescope’s blurry vision, a flaw introduced during the mirror’s construction on the ground.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The James Webb Space Telescope arrives at its final orbitThe James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final orbit, although observations will still have to wait.
Read more »
New James Webb Space Telescope Reaches Final Stop 1 Million Miles OutThe telescope will enable astronomers to peer back further in time than ever before, all the way back to when the first stars and galaxies were forming 13.7 billion years ago.
Read more »
James Webb Space Telescope arrives at new home in spaceChelsea “Foxanne” Gohd joined Space.com in 2018 and is now a Senior Writer, writing about everything from climate change to planetary science and human spaceflight in both articles and on-camera in videos. With a degree in Public Health and biological sciences, Chelsea has written and worked for institutions including the American Museum of Natural History, Scientific American, Discover Magazine Blog, Astronomy Magazine and Live Science. When not writing, editing or filming something space-y, Chelsea 'Foxanne' Gohd is writing music and performing as Foxanne, even launching a song to space in 2021 with Inspiration4. You can follow her on Twitter chelsea_gohd and foxannemusic.
Read more »
The James Webb Space Telescope arrives at its final orbit | EngadgetThe James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final orbit, although observations will still have to wait..
Read more »
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is in position 1 million miles awayNASA's James Webb Space Telescope has officially reached its destination about 1 million miles from Earth.
Read more »