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| | | | | | | JWST factsheet
Exploring the distant Universe
Name Formerly known as Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), JWST – a space-based observatory, was named after James E. Webb (1906-92), NASA's second administrator.
Description The JWST is the successor to the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and, with a six-metre mirror, it will be almost three times the size of Hubble. JWST has been designed to work best at infrared wavelengths. This will allow it to study the very distant Universe, looking for the first stars and galaxies that ever emerged.
Launch 2018 on an Ariane 5 from Europe's Spacecport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Status Under development.
Journey For JWST to be able to make precise infrared observations it is necessary that the telescope and its instruments are cooled. This is to avoid that their own infrared emission would overwhelm the faint signals from the astronomical objects being observed. For this reason, the JWST orbit will be 1.5 million km away from Earth, at a special point in space called Lagrange Point 2, or ‘L2’.
Notes Scientists expect JWST to find out more about the origins of the Universe by observing infrared light from the first stars and galaxies.
JWST's wavelength range will be from about 0.6 to 28 microns (visible to the mid-infrared light), as compared to Hubble's 0.1-2.5 microns (ultraviolet to the near infrared). One micron, or micrometre, is one millionth of a metre.
JWST will have a primary mirror with a diameter of 6.5 metres - more than twice that of Hubble's - giving it much more light-gathering capability.
Packing a 6.5-metre telescope into a small rocket with a diameter of five metres has been described by JWST scientists as 'a bit like designing a ship in a bottle'.
JWST has to be extremely reliable, even though it is using new and innovative technology. Once in orbit, it will be too far away for astronauts to perform servicing missions.
Last update: 14 November 2011 | |
| | More about... Herschel overviewTelescope missions Gaia factsheetHipparcos factsheetHerschel fact sheetHubble factsheetOther missions looking in the infrared ISO factsheetOther missions in orbit at L2 Darwin factsheetEddington factsheetGaia factsheetHerschel fact sheetPlanck in a nutshell
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