{"id":33915,"date":"2022-07-11T11:54:29","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T11:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=47563"},"modified":"2022-07-11T12:10:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T12:10:35","slug":"james-webb-space-telescope-how-it-will-observe-the-universe","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/james-webb-space-telescope-how-it-will-observe-the-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"James Webb Space Telescope: how it will observe the Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Shaoni Bhattacharya\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 11 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope will usher in a ne<\/span><\/span>w era of space observation.\u00a0<\/span>With its tennis court-sized sunshield and 6.5m primary mirror flat-packed inside the launcher like a ship in a bottle, JWST will separate from the rocket half an hour after take-off and deploy within a day.<\/span><\/p>\n

The James Webb Space Telescope is set to pick up the observing baton from previous missions like the Kepler Space Telescope<\/a>, the Spitzer Space Telescope<\/a> and, of course, the incredible Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once launched, JWST will travelled over 1.5 million km to a gravitationally stable outpost called Lagrange 2 (L2). <\/span>This lies on a straight line from the Sun to Earth and beyond, so that JWST will be locked into Earth\u2019s yearly orbit around the Sun.<\/span><\/p>\n

The James Webb Space Telescope \u2013 unlike Hubble, which orbits Earth, going in and out of our shadow every 90 minutes \u2013 has unobstructed views of the Universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the new telescope\u2019s far-flung location also means that, unlike Hubble, it cannot be reached after launch and so missions similar to the Hubble servicing missions<\/a> are impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What will the James Webb Space Telescope do?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

JWST will hover at L2 for the next 5.5 to 10 years, and scientists hope it will give us glimpses of the early Universe that we have never seen before.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is one of the largest, most powerful telescopes and should give us new insights into every phase of the Universe\u2019s history, from the first dust clouds to our Solar System<\/a>\u2019s formation.<\/span><\/p>\n

NASA, one of JWST\u2019s collaborators along with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency, is keen to point out that JWST is Hubble\u2019s successor rather than a replacement.<\/span><\/p>\n

JWST will help us better understand the Universe\u2019s size and geometry, throwing light on dark matter, dark energy and the ultimate fate of the cosmos. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>

When Hubble was launched 30 years ago, it was the first space-based optical scope and has given us unprecedented views of the Universe.\u00a0<\/span>However, it looks at the optical, ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelength ranges.<\/span><\/p>\n

James Webb will look between visible red and mid-infrared light, peering much further back into the early Universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Light from the earliest luminous objects travels so far in an expanding Universe that by the time it reaches us, its wavelengths have been stretched or \u2018redshift<\/a>ed\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

This means that the earliest Universe is observable only in the infrared part of the spectrum.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The primary mirror of NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope pictured in a cleanroom at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, US. Credit: NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

What might the James Webb Space Telescope discover?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

JWST\u2019s larger mirror enables it to collect over six times the light that Hubble can, with a field of view 15 times the area of Hubble\u2019s near-infrared camera and spectrometer (NICMOS).<\/span><\/p>\n

Its primary aim is to probe the so-called \u2018end of the dark ages\u2019 after the Big Bang, when the Universe began to fill with \u2018first light\u2019 from newly ignited stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

It should be able to look back to 100\u2013250 million years after the Big Bang.<\/span><\/p>\n

But like Hubble it is also a general purpose observatory and will specifically look at the birth and assembly of galaxies, the effects of black holes and the origins of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists hope JWST will help us better understand the Universe\u2019s size and geometry, throwing light on dark matter and dark energy, and helping us understand the ultimate fate of the cosmos.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its high resolution means that JWST could give better insights into the Milky Way<\/a> and our neighbouring galaxies, \u201cextending the work started by Hubble outwards significantly\u201d, according to ESA.<\/p>\n

Similarly, its resolution will enable scientists to see how planetary systems form.<\/p>\n

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Coatings engineer Nithin Abraham pictured in an area beneath Chamber A at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center where scientists test critical contamination control technology to keep James Webb Space Telescope clean during cryogenic testing. Credit: NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

James Webb Space Telescope\u2019s scientific instruments:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n