First Published Summer 2022
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been very much in the news over the last few months. Launched on Christmas Day 2021, the telescope reached its destination, nearly 1 million miles from Earth, where it went through the complex stages of deployment.
James Webb Space Telescope in Action
Item from the Energy Syndicate
The project began in 1986, before Hubble had launched, when a team was put together to begin work on Hubble's successor. This NASA project was in partnership with the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. The JWST is the most expensive scientific instrument ever made. On June 10th, the JWST team produced the first focused image. An image that had an exposure of just 12 hours, looked further back than anything Hubble was able to achieve. Finally, in July 2022, James Webb began its mission. NASA released the first images to an eager audience who have not been disappointed. Despite some minor damage to one of its mirrors, caused by a micro-meteorite, the first images released are stunning. If the mission stays clear of any serious problems, these first images are only a taste of things to come.
The mission promises to deliver at least 10 years of unprecedented data, but it is widely accepted that it is the things that are as yet, not known, and unexpected, that will be the most exciting aspects of the telescopes mission.
It cost over £18 Billion. It took 18 years to build taking over 100 million hours of people time to get to the point of the telescope being ready for action. Now is the time for many anxious astronomers to relax and allow their finger nails to grow back while enjoying some of the delights Webb has to offer.
If you wish to know some more about the James Webb Space Telescope, CLICK THIS
To see the first images released by NASA in July 2022,CLICK THIS
