The James Webb Space Telescope will be the next great space science observatory, designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe and to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy. It is a once-in-a-generation mission.
Webb is designed and built to offer scientists the capabilities needed to push the frontiers of knowledge of our own Solar System, of the formation of stars and planets including planets outside our Solar System (exoplanets), and of how galaxies are created and evolve, in ways never before possible. Webb will observe the Universe at wavelengths longer than visible light, namely in the near-infrared and mid-infrared. Its data will be made available to the scientific community worldwide.
Webb carries a suite of state-of-the-art astronomical instruments capable of addressing a very broad range of outstanding questions in astrophysics. The instrument complement includes powerful cameras, coronagraphs, and spectrographs that will provide scientists with the data they need to analyse the materials that make up stars, nebulae, galaxies and the atmospheres of planets.
The James Webb Space Telescope is named after NASA’s second administrator, James E. Webb, who headed the agency from February 1961 to October 1968 and directed the Apollo programme.
Launch date | 25 December 2021 |
---|---|
Mission duration | Nominal duration is 5 years; goal is 10 years |
Launch vehicle | Ariane 5 |
Launch mass | 6200 kg, including fuel and launch vehicle adaptor |
Orbit | Sun-Earth L2 halo orbit, approximately 1.5 million km from Earth |
Folded dimensions | 10.66 m high x 4.47 m wide 6.5 m diameter, |
Primary mirror | 18 mirror segments of gold-coated beryllium |
Sunshield | 22 x 12 metres, 5 layers |
Wavelength range | About 0.6 μm to 28 μm (visible to mid-infrared) |
Operating temperature | Telescope at -233°C MIRI instrument at -266°C |
Operations centre | Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA |
Watch this special Space Sparks episode to learn about the science goals of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
Read moreThis has been a good week! In spite of the resurgence of COVID and its fast-moving Omicron variant, as we approach the Holiday season we have many reasons to celebrate.
Read moreThe NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Early Release Observations (ERO) will be among the first spectacular images and spectra taken following the commissioning of the observatory. This release will represent Webb’s debut to the world by showcasing the observatory’s capabilities and is intended to have immediate and dramatic appeal for a broad audience.
Read moreESA/Webb, ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr, D-21218 Baltimore, United States
Content Credit: ESA/Webb
Telescope Model Credit: NASA, ATG
Website developed and operated by Enciso Systems
Accelerated by CDN77
The telescope’s primary mirror is made of 18 hexagonal-shaped mirror segments, each 1.32 metres in diameter and weighing approximately 20 kilograms. The total diameter of Webb’s primary mirror spans 6.5 metres, which is so large that it has to be carefully folded into the rocket’s fairing for launch. Each of the telescope's mirrors is covered in a microscopically thin layer of gold, which optimises them for reflecting infrared light – the primary wavelength of light this telescope will observe.
The telescope also hosts a convex secondary mirror that is roughly 0.74 metres in diameter. This is the second surface the light from the cosmos hits on its route into the telescope.
A giant, five-layered sunshield protects the James Webb Space Telescope and its instruments from the light and heat of the Sun. At 22×12 metres, this is about the size of a tennis court. The sunshield keeps the telescope in perpetual shadow for operations at –233°C, to prevent the instruments’ own infrared emission from overwhelming the signals from the astronomical targets. The mid infrared instrument MIRI is further cooled to –266°C.