What Is The James Webb Space Telescope?

This one's going to take 2 minuted of your day!

An infrared telescope can capture what our eyes cannot see as infrared means ‘less than red’, which refers to infrared light being less powerful as red light on the electromagnetic scale. Our eyes cannot see infrared light as it is not in the visible spectrum of light for humans. Thus, the JWST could open the galaxy and show us the frameworks of the entire universe if we know where to look.

Why JWST?

A major problem in astronomy is weather. This problem occurs only on Earth and if we send telescopes to space, we can avoid this problem. Several countries have sent over 90 space telescopes. Major ones include Hubble, Chandra X-Ray observatory, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. However, these telescopes didn’t have highly sensitive infrared cameras. Furthermore, the instruments on these telescopes are outdated, being launched decades ago (They are still highly capable to study the universe, though). Therefore, the need of a state of the art, infrared space telescope in order to further space observation. The James Webb Space Telescope was the answer. The telescope was made an infrared telescope as no other telescope which capture images on that infrared range and the instruments were made highly sensitive. So sensitive in fact that it could pick up a lot of ‘background noise’ (the infrared light from the heat of our solar system). Typically, the longer the wavelength of infrared light, the colder the detector needs to be to produce images. The instruments thus needed to be kept at a very cold temperature in order to function normally.

How does it work?

Light enters the space telescope and enters either one of the cameras, which picks it up. JWST has a NIRcam, which means Near InfraRed camera. This camera picks up the infrared radiation coming from distant stars and gases. The camera then transfers the data it captured to the SSD on board the JWST, which stores the image until it is sent back to the Earth in the form of a high frequency radio wave, which is picked up by the Deep Space Network (A network of 3 large satellite dishes, located in Australia, Spain and California) on Earth. This data is then sent to NASA scientists, who first process the data into a proper image, which can then be studied.

How is it useful?

The JWST allows scientists on Earth to study heavenly bodies they could never study before. This is because the JWST has the ability to see in infrared, which allows it to look through large screens of gas and other galactic material, which would often obscure things like newly forming star clusters and other star systems. Being able to study these systems will allow scientists to understand how new stars are formed and ultimately understand how our solar system came into being and what happened to it during its early stages. The JWST’s NIRcam is also equipped with a coronagraph, which enables it to block out bright objects in space and study dimmer objects, allowing it to study planetary systems.

What does it mean for you?

Well, unless you are a planetary scientist, cosmologist or an astrophysicist, the JWST will not be of much use to you. However, the images that the JWST produces are stunning and look very sharp. It compels even the common man to be awestruck by the beautiful nature of space. Here are some of the JWST’s best photos yet:

The Carina Nebula Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

Stephan’s Quintet Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

Webb’s First Deep Field Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI