ch 5-4 James Webb

the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

• orbits the Sun, 1.5 million km from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2

• infrared and largest in space

• successor of Hubble but not replacement (hubble is optical test)

• launched dec 2025, NASA x ESA x CSA

What is the primary mirror size of the James Webb Space Telescope?

• 6.5-meter segmented primary mirror.

How does the mirror size of the James Webb Space Telescope compare to the Hubble Space Telescope?

• JWST has a much larger 6.5 m mirror compared to Hubble’s 2.4 m mirror

• has sunshield on either side is size of tennis court

Why does a larger mirror improve a telescope’s performance?

• It collects more light, allowing the telescope to see fainter and more distant objects

What advantage does the James Webb Space Telescope have over visible-light telescopes like Hubble?

• it can see through dust clouds and observe star that are opaque to visible light and planet formation regions.

• nebula - cluster of stars 5,000,000 light years away

What does the James Webb Space Telescope help astronomers study?

• The birth of stars and planetary systems hidden inside dust clouds

• a spectacular spiral cloud of dust surrounding a galaxy glow in infrared light

• span entire

  • studies of nearby exo planets

  • observations of first galaxies as they appear 10,000,000 light years away

• Neptune and its rings and moons

  • so clear you can see it’s rings and moons

• the deepest and most detailed image of the universe

• opposite direction furthest away from home we have ever seen

• deepest and most detailed image we have up to date of the universe

• thousands of galaxies in this infrared image

• bright white elliptical galaxy

• bound by gravity in a galaxy cluster

• cartwheel galaxy, located about 500 light years from Earth, is a spectacular spiral galaxy shrouded in hot dust

• high speed collision between large and small galaxy

• revealed new information about star information and black hole

• rare sight