From Hubble to Webb

26 FEB. 2021 3978

Webb builds on the successes of Hubble, and complements the data collected by ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory as well.

This quick-look table summaries the main similarities and differences between the three missions.

Hubble Space Telescope	James Webb Space Telescope	Herschel Space Observatory
NASA and ESA	NASA, ESA and CSA	ESA
Orbiting Earth at an altitude of approximately 570 kilometres	Orbiting the second Lagrange point (L2), roughly 1.5 million kilometres from Earth	Orbiting the second Lagrange point (L2), roughly 1.5 million kilometres from Earth
Serviceable and accessible by the NASA Space Shuttle; 5 servicing missions were conducted	Not serviceable	Not serviceable
Observations at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths (with some infrared capability)	Observations in the near- and mid-infrared	Observations in the far-infrared
2.4-metre-diameter primary mirror	6.5-metre diameter-primary mirror	3.5-metre-diameter primary mirror

From toddlers to babies

Webb sees in infrared wavelengths, which allows astronomers to observe distant objects. As a result of the expansion of the Universe, very distant objects are highly redshifted (their light is shifted towards the redder end of the spectrum) and so infrared telescopes are needed to study them. While Hubble allows us to peer back to 'toddler' age galaxies, Webb has the capability to study 'baby' galaxies, the first to form in our nearly 14 billion year old Universe.

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