Infrared tech can see older, colder objects, and can give views, through space dust, that are not visible in Hubble images.
This telescope’s massive mirror is divided. It has a 5-layer sun shield the size of a tennis court. The device folds up into a rocket and can open when needed.
The technology needs to operate seamlessly without any issues. Once it’s launched there will be no way to send up repair crews. Unlike the Hubble, the James Webb will be stationed one million miles from the Earth.
It takes time for light to travel through space. And the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to trace that journey. It will be able to view light that’s been traveling for thousands of years. The telescope is optimized to see near-and mid-infrared light that is not visible to people.
“Webb will be able to see galaxies as they looked a couple hundred million years after the Big Bang,” Rigby explains.
The images that the James Webb telescope will send to the Earth will be the most amazing merger of art and science.
