(Washington Insider Magazine) -This moment has been a long time in the making. The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope by NASA, the premier observatory in the next decade, is set for December 18, from French Guiana.
The telescope has been delayed for many years due to factors such as technical and pandemic problems. The world’s largest complex and powerful space observatory will continue to answer questions about the solar system, study exoplanets more deeply than ever before, and provide new insights into the universe. Webb will look into the atmospheres and may try to uncover clues to life beyond Earth.
Mirrors are available for the telescope that extend to 21 feet (4 inches) (6.5 meters). This large length will allow the telescope to capture more light from objects once it is in space. The telescope will be able to see more detail if it can gather more light.
NASA said it is the largest mirror they have ever made, but that its size caused a problem of sorts. It was too large to fit in a rocket so, they designed the telescope with a series of moving parts that could fold origami-style to fit within a 16-foot launch space.
Each space telescope builds upon the knowledge of the previous. Webb’s mirror is almost 60 times larger than other space telescopes like the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope’s sensitivity and resolution are also improved by the observatory.
NASA says Webb will be an infrared detective and detect light that is not visible to the eye. This will reveal hidden areas of space.
In 1989, the concept of the telescope was created. Construction on Webb began in the year 2004. The telescope has been built by 40 million hours of work by scientists, engineers, and technicians from 14 different countries. Webb is now ready to help us understand how the universe began and answer key questions such as where we come from and whether we are alone in this chaos.
The Webb telescope will examine every phase of history. This includes the first glow following the big bang, which created the universe, and the formation and growth of the stars, planets, and galaxies that make it up today. The observatory’s capabilities will allow it to answer questions about the solar system as well as investigate faint signals that were detected in the first galaxies. These galaxies were formed 13.5 billion years ago.
Webb’s science goals are very ambitious. Scientists around the globe will use the telescope to study and analyze a wide range of planets, galaxies, and stars, as well as the structure of our universe. The evolution and formation of planets in the solar system is a key topic. This includes both those within it as well as those outside. Particularly those interesting ones are planets that lay within the habitable zones of stars. This is an orbital area where a planet can support liquid water on its surface. It suggests that it may support life as we know.