News: JWST launched into space from an Ariane 5 rocket that lifted off from a spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
About the JWST:
- It is named after a former NASA administrator, James Webb(one of the architects of the Apollo Moon landings).
- It is the successor to the Hubble telescope.
- It is a large infrared telescope with an approximately 6.5 meter primary mirror.
- The mirrors-18 in number- are made of ultra-lightweight beryllium.
- The space telescope is designed to study the earliest stars in the universe and other cosmic mysteries.
- It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.
- This will help researchers gauge whether these worlds are in any way habitable.
- It is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
- This telescope actually will be at minus 233 degrees Celsius. Only then will it stop glowing at the infrared wavelengths beyond the visible.
- And only then will it be able to take the sensitive pictures of the distant Universe.
