The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space observatory developed by NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It was launched on December 25, 2021 from French New Guinea. The JWST’s primary mirror comprises 18 hexagonal segments made of gold-plated beryllium. As an infrared telescope, the JWST was designed to see objects too distant or too faint for Hubble to see.

“Today, we present humanity with a groundbreaking new view of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope – a view the world has never seen before…” - Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator

The first images taken by the JWST were released to the public on July 11, 2022. These included observations taken from the Crab Nebula, Stephen’s Quintet, and the Southern Ring Nebula. Since then, the JWST has continued to release stunning images of the cosmos and advance scientific understanding of the most distant and oldest objects in the universe. The JWST will also search for exoplanets. Those are planets that exist outside of our solar system.

Scientific Instruments

The JWST is equipped with the following suite of scientific instruments to perform observations.

• Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) - from the University of Arizona
• Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) - from the ESA, with components from NASA/GSFC
• Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) - from the European Consortium with the European Space Agency (ESA), and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
• Fine Guidance Sensor/Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS/NIRISS) - from the Canadian Space Agency

Media Inquiries

Members of the media can contact Laura Betz at laura.e.bets@nasa.gov for inquiries regarding the mission, science or technology of the James Webb Space Telescope.

Source: Wikipedia
Image Credit: ScienceNews.org - Northrup Grumman