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NASA personnel are spending the day studying the power subsystem of the massive James Webb Space Telescope to ensure the observatory is ready to execute a key procedure: tensioning its vast sunshield. The Webb space telescope, which launched on Dec. 25, is conducting a month-long deployment procedure necessary to prepare the telescope to gather data. … Read more
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Martin Barstow, Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science, University of Leicester If everything goes according to plan, we will soon enter a new era of astronomy. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and … Read more
To celebrate the new year, consider taking a day to rest. That’s what the team managing the complicated process of deploying the James Webb Space Telescope are doing, taking Saturday (Jan. 1) off. Work will resume on Sunday (Jan. 2), according to an agency update. The pause comes after a long day on Friday (Dec. … Read more
One of the James Webb Space Telescope’s most nail-biting deployment steps is safely in the books. The $10 billion observatory unfurled its huge sunshield on Friday (Dec. 31), carefully unfolding the five-layer structure by sequentially deploying two booms. “Shine bright like a diamond. With the successful deployment of our right sunshield mid-boom, or ‘arm,’ Webb’s … Read more
In 2014, amateur astronomers in New Zealand glimpsed a flare of light emanating from the constellation of Centauri. NASA later confirmed this blaze was a massive supernova explosion from another galaxy an incredible 57 million light-years away from our Milky Way. “Dedicated amateur astronomers often make intriguing discoveries – particularly of fleeting astronomical phenomena … Read more
After a detailed analysis of where the James Webb Space Telescope is now (29 December 2021) and how it got there, NASA determined the observatory should have enough propellant to operate in space for significantly more than 10 years in space. Webb’s mission lifetime was designed to be at least 5-1/2 years, and mission … Read more
This short movie of the James Webb Space Telescope moving through space was captured by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project on Dec. 29, 2021. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project) Thanks to images from a robotic Earth telescope, you can now watch NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope travel through the final frontier. … Read more
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope removes the covers from its sunshield in this animation of the critical deployment step that occurred in space on Dec. 30, 2021. (Image credit: NASA) The James Webb Space Telescope has unwrapped its sunshield, crossing another important item off of its lengthy and risky deployment to-do list. After successfully extending … Read more
This small cluster of stars packs quite a visual morsel. On Dec. 20, 2021, the team behind the Hubble Space Telescope published an image taken by the iconic observatory when it was looking towards the constellation Dorado in the southern sky. Astronomers refer to this stellar gathering as NGC 1755. The open star cluster “resembles … Read more
There are a good number of year-end telescope deals available, if you’re trying to pick up a cheap model. If you’re looking to gift a new telescope to a budding astronomer, you’re in luck, as plenty of the best telescopes for beginners and best telescopes for kids are currently discounted. Below, you’ll find a mix … Read more