nudge Posted December 19, 2021 Posted December 19, 2021 Think it deserves a separate topic... James Webb Space Telescope will be the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever constructed. Remember the Hubble Space Telescope? Well, JWST is designed to observe a part of space and time never seen before, the epoch when the very first stars and galaxies formed over 13.5 billion years ago. In order to do this, Webb will have a much larger primary mirror (6.5m diameter) than Hubble, giving it more light-gathering power. It also will have infrared instruments with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity than Hubble. Finally, Webb will operate much farther from Earth, maintaining its extremely cold operating temperature, stable pointing and higher observing efficiency than with the Earth-orbiting Hubble. The Webb mission, an international partnership of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, and everything in between. JWST will also be a powerful tool for studying the nearby universe. Scientists will use it to study planets and other bodies in our solar system to determine their origin and evolution and compare them with exoplanets, planets that orbit other stars. It will also observe exoplanets located in their stars’ habitable zones, the regions where a planet could harbor liquid water on its surface, and can determine if and where signatures of habitability may be present. Using a technique called transmission spectroscopy, the observatory will examine starlight filtered through planetary atmospheres to learn about their chemical compositions. JWST is targeted to launch at 12:20 p.m. GMT Friday, Dec. 24, on an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Weather-related delays are possible, a new update should be released on December 21st. 2 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 20, 2021 Subscriber Posted December 20, 2021 JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 20, 2021 Subscriber Posted December 20, 2021 @nudge, looking at the J W Telescope in details on the NASA website looks like a Star Wars Fighter class space ship 1 Quote
nudge Posted December 20, 2021 Author Posted December 20, 2021 1 minute ago, CaaC (John) said: @nudge, looking at the J W Telescope in details on the NASA website looks like a Star Wars Fighter class space ship That's what I think every time I see it, too A friggin Star Destroyer 1 Quote
nudge Posted December 26, 2021 Author Posted December 26, 2021 First course correction completed successfully. Webb has now traveled about a third of the distance to L2. 1 1 Quote
DeadLinesman Posted December 26, 2021 Posted December 26, 2021 30 minutes ago, nudge said: First course correction completed successfully. Webb has now traveled about a third of the distance to L2. So this L2 point. Is this for keeping it out of direct sunlight but still orbiting behind the earth? Quote
nudge Posted December 26, 2021 Author Posted December 26, 2021 1 minute ago, DeadLinesman said: So this L2 point. Is this for keeping it out of direct sunlight but still orbiting behind the earth? Yes - L2 is a location where gravitational forces of Sun and Earth combined balance out the centrifugal force, so any object in that position will orbit the Sun together with the Earth (so it stays stationary from Earth's point of view, with Earth blocking most of the sunlight). It's not stable like some other Lagrangian points, so small corrections are required every 26 days or so. 1 Quote
Toinho Posted December 27, 2021 Posted December 27, 2021 Watched the launch and the next 20 minutes or so. Incredibly fascinating. I’ll admit I didn’t know it was happening until I was talking to a friend and I’m glad I did. This could yield an incredible look into the past! 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 28, 2021 Subscriber Posted December 28, 2021 Where is Web 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 31, 2021 Subscriber Posted December 31, 2021 Quote A $10bn 'glittering space jewel' begins its mission VIDEO A $10bn glittering space jewel recedes into the distance. This is the moment the James Webb telescope came off the top of its rocket to begin its mission to image the first stars to shine in the cosmos. The video was transmitted in near real-time last Saturday, but the feed to Earth was very glitchy and broken up. The European Space Agency (Esa) has since had the sequence cleaned up and set to music by the UK artist Charlotte Hatherley. It's the last view we'll ever get of the telescope scientists believe will go on to make transformative discoveries about the early Universe, and about planets circling far-off stars. World's biggest space telescope leaves Earth Webb telescope: Sun shield deployment is critical A $10bn machine in search of the end of darkness Hubble successor faces 'two weeks of terror' FULL REPORT Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted January 2, 2022 Subscriber Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) Quote James Webb Space Telescope unfurls massive sunshield in major deployment milestone Edited January 2, 2022 by CaaC (John) 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted January 3, 2022 Subscriber Posted January 3, 2022 Quote James Webb Space Telescope: Everything is 'hunky dory' So far, so good. The US space agency says the post-launch set-up of the new James Webb telescope have gone very well. "As smoothly as we could have hoped for." Engineering teams are in the middle of unpacking the observatory from its folded launch configuration to the layout needed for operations. This involves the deployment of several structures, the most critical of which are Webb's mirrors and sun shield. Monday saw the start of what is probably the most complex set of activities - the separation and tensioning of the five individual layers that make up the shield. James Webb Latest 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted January 6, 2022 Subscriber Posted January 6, 2022 Quote James Webb Space Telescope nails secondary mirror deployment "We actually have a telescope." The James Webb Space Telescope achieved another major milestone today, successfully extending its secondary mirror as it continues to sail seamlessly through its never-before-conducted deployment sequence on the way to its destination. The 2.4-foot-wide (0.74 meters) secondary mirror sits attached to a tripod opposite the main mirror. Its task is to concentrate the light collected by the gold-coated main mirror into an opening at the main mirror's center. Through this opening, the light reaches the third mirror, which reflects it to the telescope's instruments The secondary mirror travelled to space stowed on top of the main mirror, attached to three 26-feet-long (8 m) legs that form its supporting tripod. .FULL REPORT 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted January 7, 2022 Subscriber Posted January 7, 2022 Quote 15:04:09 - January 06, 2022 WEBB MIRROR DEPLOYMENT WEBCAST UPDATE This is an update to note that NASA's webcast of the James Webb Space Telescope's mirror deployment will actually occur on Saturday, Jan. 8, at a time still to be determined based on NASA's latest live broadcast schedule. Webb's flight controllers plan to deploy the the telescope's aft radiator as soon as today before proceeding with the port and starboard mirror deployments on Friday and Saturday. Sorry for any confusion, space fans! -- Tariq Malik https://www.space.com/news/live/james-webb-space-telescope-updates Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted January 9, 2022 Subscriber Posted January 9, 2022 (edited) Edited January 9, 2022 by CaaC (John) 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted January 12, 2022 Subscriber Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) 15:10:30 - January 11, 2022 WEBB KEEPS TREKKING OUT TO SPACE A diagram depicting JWST's orbit around L2 in comparison to Earth, the moon and the sun. (Image credit: NASA) NASA has again delayed beginning work on aligning the individual mirror segments of the James Webb Space Telescope, according to an agency timeline, with that project now scheduled to begin Wednesday (Jan. 12). The process will take several days and moves the 18 individual hexagons of the golden primary mirror out of their launch configuration. In the meantime, Webb continues its long journey out to Earth-sun Lagrange point 2, or L2. The observatory is currently 80% of the way to L2 and has traveled nearly 725,000 miles (1.16 million kilometers) away from Earth. To follow Webb's journey, consult NASA's tracking website for the observatory, which also tracks the deployment process. https://www.space.com/news/live/james-webb-space-telescope-updates Edited January 12, 2022 by CaaC (John) Quote
nudge Posted January 24, 2022 Author Posted January 24, 2022 Almost arrived! The James Webb Space Telescope will fire its engines and brake into its halo orbit around L2 today. The course correction is scheduled for 8pm CET. 1 Quote
nudge Posted January 24, 2022 Author Posted January 24, 2022 Orbital insertion burn is complete! JWST has successfully arrived 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.