James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launch
Recently NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been launched.
JWST is an orbiting infrared light (infrared) based observatory. It will expand the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with longer wavelength coverage and better precision.
- HST is a space-based observatory. Its function is to observe in the visible, infrared and ultraviolet light spectrum.
- Space telescopes (such as JWST, Hubble, etc.) are also often called time-machines because of their ability to see objects at very distant distances.
- It has been developed under an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
- It is moving towards Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2.
- When a straight line is drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of the Earth, the point where the gravitational force of the Sun and the Earth becomes equal is called the Lagrange point. In this situation, neither the Sun nor the Earth can attract the body towards itself. Thus the body remains stationary at one place/point.
Mission goals:
- Searching for the first galaxies or luminous bodies formed after the Big Bang.
- Finding out how galaxies evolved.
- It will observe the process of star formation from the first stage to the creation of the planetary system.
- It will measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems, including the Solar System, and analyze the potential for life to sustain life in those systems.
Scientific Instruments at JWST: It is equipped with instruments like Telescope, Near Infrared Camera, Infrared Spectrograph, Mid Infrared Instrument and Fine Guidance Sensor/ Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph etc.
Source – The Hindu
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