Telescope

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope turns on cameras to look at first star target

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Spacecraft controllers started powering up the four cutting-edge instruments on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope as they prepare for the observatory’s first glimpses of a target star. That star, called HD 84406, is located 241 light-years from Earth and part of the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The images will not be used for … Read more

The James Webb Space Telescope will map the atmosphere of exoplanets

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Exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun, are found at distances very far from Earth. For example, the closest exoplanet to us, Proxima Centauri b, is 4.2 light-years away, or 265,000 times the distance between the Earth and the sun. To the naked eye, the planets in the solar system appear as bright spots. … Read more

How NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will get ready for its first cosmic observations

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With NASA’s newest space observatory exactly on schedule in its commissioning phase, the science team outlined their plan to make the most of this $10 billion opportunity. The James Webb Space Telescope arrived days ago at its destination at the Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2 (L2), which is about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from our planet.  … Read more

How NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope project chief used Jimmy Buffett quotes to thank mission team

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Turns out that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope project manager is a self-described “parrot head.” The term is a playful reference to fans of calypso singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who project manager Bill Ochs recently quoted when congratulating the Webb Space Telescope team. (For his part, Buffett was said to once call his fans “parrot heads” … Read more

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final destination. Let’s celebrate the team that got it there (op-ed)

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Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen is associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. He contributed this article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. There is a new speck of light in the sky right now, best observable from Earth around midnight. This blurry speck — dim as it may be, small as it may be — represents … Read more

Virtual Telescope Project captures a view of the James Webb Space Telescope at its final destination

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A new image captures NASA’s distant James Webb Space Telescope in a sky full of stars. The Rome-based Virtual Telescope Project took the exposure over five minutes using its robotic telescope, a PlaneWave 17-inch, tracking Webb on a Paramount ME mount. The image captured Webb just as it was arriving at its destination at the … Read more

After reaching deep space haven, Webb telescope begins 5 months of fine-tuning | Science

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NASA’s flagship James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at its destination. After unfolding the carefully packed observatory during its monthlong journey, controllers today briefly fired Webb’s thrusters to put it into a “halo orbit” around L2, a gravitational balance point 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Far from the heat and hubbub of low-Earth orbit, L2 … Read more

Webb Telescope Reaches Its Final Destination Far from Earth

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has just reached its final destination—around a gravitationally special spot in space known as the second Lagrange point, or L2. The US$10-billion observatory could spend 20 or more years there, gathering unprecedented insights about the Universe as it stares into deep space. Webb, which is the most complex telescope ever … Read more

The James Webb Space Telescope Could Solve One of Cosmology’s Deepest Mysteries

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On Christmas morning of 2021, astronomers watched their new, greatest tool successfully blast off into space. Now the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is fully deployed and has arrived at its deep-space destination, a quiet locale 1.5 million kilometers beyond Earth. Massimo Stiavelli heads the JWST Mission Office at the institute that allocates research time … Read more