Telescope

Success! The James Webb Space Telescope Has Launched

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The world’s most powerful space telescope on Saturday blasted off into orbit, headed to an outpost 1.5 million kilometres (930,000 miles) from Earth, after several delays caused by technical hitches.   The James Webb Space Telescope, some three decades and billions of dollars in the making, left Earth enclosed in its Ariane 5 rocket from … Read more

The James Webb Space Telescope Has Launched: Now Comes the Hard Part

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The relief was as deep as the stakes were high. At 7:20 A.M. (ET), the rocket carrying the largest, most ambitious space telescope in history cleared the launchpad in French Guiana, and the members of mission control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore roared their elation. The suspense was not quite over. Half … Read more

NASA’s Webb telescope takes flight—a Christmas gift to astronomers everywhere | Science

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NASA’s most expensive telescope ever is in space at last. The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope, an instrument expected to revolutionize astronomy by gathering light from the atmospheres of alien worlds and the universe’s first galaxies, launched at 7:20 a.m. Eastern Time on a sultry Christmas morning from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. Some … Read more

JWST: The James Webb Space Telescope is finally on its way into orbit

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After numerous delays, the biggest space telescope ever has blasted off on Christmas Day, and will begin its science mission in mid 2022 Space 25 December 2021 By Leah Crane The James Webb Space Telescope sits atop an Ariane 5 rocket on the launchpad in French Guiana on 23 December P PIRON/ESA/CNES/Arianespa​ce The James Webb … Read more

The James Webb Space Telescope Has Launched: Now Comes the Hard Part

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The cheers were as loud as the stakes were high. At 7:20 A.M. (ET), the rocket carrying the largest, most ambitious space telescope in history cleared the launchpad in French Guiana, and the members of mission control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore roared their relief. The suspense is not quite over. Half … Read more

Christmas launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has sparked some epic holiday memes

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It’s launch day for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and after months of delays, the mission is lifting off on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) in what may be the biggest gift astronomy has ever seen. The Webb space telescope is scheduled to lift off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:20 … Read more

5 Out-of-This-World Telescope Photos of Space to Get You Excited For The JWST Launch

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The forthcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope offers unprecedented new opportunities for astronomers. It’s also a timely opportunity to reflect on what previous generations of telescopes have shown us.   Astronomers rarely use their telescopes to simply take pictures. The pictures in astrophysics are usually generated by a process of scientific inference and … Read more

Here’s the space weather forecast for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launch

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Strong winds and rain at the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, were responsible for the latest delay of the James Webb Space Telescope launch. But there is also another type of weather that might interfere with the grand telescope’s journey to orbit: space weather. So what does the space weather forecast look like for … Read more

30 years and $10 billion later, the James Webb Space Telescope is finally on the launch pad

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NASA and the astronomy community have poured $10 billion and more than two decades into just one piece of machinery. Now they are facing the moment of truth. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, also known as Webb or JWST, is finally in French Guiana, perched atop its rocket, ready to bid farewell to Earth and … Read more

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope won’t hit Santa during Christmas launch

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NASA is launching a huge observatory into space early Christmas morning (Dec. 25), but you don’t need to worry about it hitting Santa Claus. While St. Nick is wrapping up his annual world tour, presumably somewhere in Alaska, Hawaii or the other Pacific islands in the westernmost time zones, an Ariane 5 rocket will be … Read more