First photos from the James Webb Telescope

What is JWST? It’s the James Webb Space Telescope. Launched on Christmas Day, 2021, the JWST was designed to expand on what the Hubble Space Telescope has accomplished. You may remember our article in the January issue that explained the intricate deployment procedures that took 40 days to complete. NASA has never launched such a complex payload. James Webb has now achieved proper orbit and is fully deployed.

James Webb has already taken it’s “first light” picture of a bright star. The picture looked like a cluster of 18 separate stars. This results from the 18 mirrors not being aligned to form images at the same place. Luckily, this was totally expected. Over the next two months, NASA engineers will be aligning the 18 separate mirrors so they function as one large mirror. Then we begin a new chapter in astronomical research.

How is JWST different from the Hubble?

Hubble lies in a low earth orbit, only about 400 miles above the earth’s surface while James Webb lies in an orbit 5 times farther away than the moon. James Webb also gathers and focuses infrared light, not visible light. We perceive infrared as heat. To “see” in infrared, the JWST must be shielded from sunlight. That required the unfolding of a huge reflective, mylar sun shield. The sun shield has a greater surface area than a tennis court! The James Webb telescope is much larger than Hubble too; Hubble collects light with one 94 inch diameter mirror, while James Webb collects light with an array of 18 mirrors, each one about the same size as Hubble. Ah, one last question remains. While Hubble was a famous 20th century astronomer, who was James Webb? He was director of NASA when John Fitzgerald Kennedy served as President.

Ron Smith has spent his career lecturing and teaching astronomy, meteorology, and earth science. In retirement, Ron continues to enjoy sharing his love of science with others.