The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built, with a primary mirror that is 6.5 meters in diameter. Its advanced technologies enable it to observe the universe in the infrared spectrum and peer back in time to the early universe.
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The James Webb Space Telescope utilizes infrared technology to observe and study some of the earliest and most distant objects in the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope detects near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths, the light beyond the red end of the visible spectrum. This provides unprecedented insights into the formation of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems, as well as the evolution of the universe itself.
The James Webb Space Telescope is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. The telescope was built by a team of scientists and engineers from these agencies and numerous other partner organizations.
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on 25 December 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, and arrived at the Sun–Earth L2 Lagrange point in January 2022
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a thread-like arrangement of 10 galaxies that existed just 830 million years after the big bang. The 3 million light-year-long structure is anchored by a luminous quasar – a galaxy with an active, supermassive black hole at its core.
Mirror
Sunshield
ISIM
Secondary Mirror
Antenna
| Telescope | Hubble | Webb | Roman(2027) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Mirror Size | 2.4 meters | 6.5 meters | 2.4 meters |
| Wavelength Range | 0.001 square degrees | 2 times Hubble | 216 times Hubble |
| Orbit | Orbiting Earth | Orbiting the Sun at Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 | Orbiting the Sun at Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 |
| Distance | 545 km above Earth | 1.5 million km from Earth | 1.5 million km from Earth |