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The James Webb Space Telescope: Looking into the early Universe

James Webb Space Telescope SpaceUpper

As the Hubble Telescope is over 20 years old at this point and needs to be significantly upgraded.

So, there is a need for a new powerful telescope than the Hubble Telescope.

Here’s the entry of James Webb Telescope, a game changer telescope of the 21st century.

What is James Webb telescope

James Webb Telescope is the next-generation space telescope that probes the universe at infrared light.

This telescope was named after a former NASA Administrator.

It has 100 times more light-collecting power and can see objects 10 times fainter than what the Hubble Telescope can. 

It is located in the Sun-Earth Lagrange point instead of being stationed in low Earth orbit as Hubble is. 

The point will give it a better silent orbit than low Earth orbit which will allow it to see a lot fainter than Hubble.

At 10 times the distance of Hubble, it will be able to explore the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang.

By observing these galaxies, Astronomers hope to learn what the universe was like when it was at an early stage.

This will help astronomers further understand how the universe evolved.

Amazing Facts of James Webb Telescope

  • It is a joint project between NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). 
  • The telescope will be placed at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. 
  • The project is considered as the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mission Objectives

The mission objectives of the James Webb Telescope are:

  1. Observe Newborn Stars
  2. Search Planets for evidence of Life and Intelligence
  3. Look back into the Early Universe
  4. Study the Interstellar Galaxies
  5. Capture images of Merging Galaxies
  6. Gazing Nebula that have never seen before
  7. Pierce through Cosmic dust layer to unveil unseen part of our universe 

James Webb Telescope Launch Date

The James Webb Telescope was launched on December 25, 2021 at 12:20 UTC.

Conclusion

The James Webb telescope will look for the shadow that created big-bang and know what happened prior to big-bang.

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