It was exciting, but it worked: two weeks after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the space telescope successfully unfolded its most important part on Saturday afternoon. This is a meter-sized mirror that captures light from the universe. Once in use, the colossus must investigate the origin of the earliest stars and galaxies.
NASA NASA two weeks after launch, @NASAWebb has hit its next biggest milestone: the mirrors have completed deployment and the next-generation telescope has taken its final form. Next up for Webb? Five months of alignment and calibration before we start getting images: https://t.co/BOj5O1HS37
This is reported by the American space agency NASA, which developed the telescope together with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency. An earlier success was already achieved on January 4, when the five sun shields present were successfully deployed. James Webb space telescope was launched from French Guiana on Christmas Day after years of delay.
The six-foot gilded mirror is the core of the JWST, which has now traveled a million miles. The telescope still has about 400,000 kilometers to go to its final destination, where it is expected to arrive in about two weeks. If all goes well, the JWST can take its first measurements a few months later. It is expected to last five to ten years and make observations that go back 13 billion years.
Also read: New space telescope looks at the beginning of time – or just a little later
‘A new era in astronomy’
The JWST is the successor to the famous Hubble telescope, which is still active. “The launch marks a new era in astronomy,” said astronomer Ewine van Dishoeck, from Leiden University, who is involved in the JWST. NRC. “With this telescope, we will see for the first time the formation of the first stars and galaxies, just after the beginning of time.”
Dutch organizations also contributed to the project: Leiden University, research institute TNO and scientific bureau NOVA-OIR. The telescope will also look for traces of the Big Bang and for planets where life could be possible. The device, which cost 10 billion euros, should have been launched in 2011 – but it moment supreme was delayed several times.
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