James Webb Space Telescope ------------------------------------ Conceived more than 30 years ago as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb is the largest and most powerful observatory ever built. Once in orbit, it will allow astronomers to peer into the farthest reaches of the universe Folding / unfolding Too big to fit inside any rocket, Webb will be folded up for launch, and unfolded gradually over its first month in space SUN Earth orbit Moon orbit Hubble orbit, 570km L2 Not to scale 1 Folded 2 Sunshield structure unfolds 3 Sunshield layers extend and separate 4 Secondary mirror deployed 5 Lateral wings of primary mirror deployed Secondary mirror: Reflects light from primary mirror into science instruments Webb will orbit Lagrange point 2 – spot 1.5 million km from Earth where gravitational pull from Earth and sun balance out – allowing observatory to remain in stable position Primary mirror Almost three times bigger than Hubble’s. 18 gold-plated beryllium hexagons give much greater light- gathering capability Sunshield Five tennis court-sized layers block light from sun, moon and Earth to keep telescope at -223C, essential to see faint infrared light without interference James Webb 6.5m Hubble 2.4m Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM): Houses four main instruments Trim flap Helps stabilize satellite Solar power array Earth-pointing antenna Spacecraft bus Control, power and other support systems Star trackers Help to keep telescope pointed at target Seeing infrared Webb will focus on infrared range of electromagnetic spectrum, allowing it to observe objects too old and too distant for Hubble to see Ariane 5 will launch from Europe’s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana 0 Big Bang Age of universe (billions of years) Infrared capabilities will allow Webb to see far enough to explore what universe looked like around 100 to 250 million years after Big Bang, when first stars and galaxies began to form Hubble James Webb Hubble James Webb 13.8bn Today Radio waves Infrared Visible Ultraviolet X-rays ------------------------------------ Sources: NASA, ESA, CSA © GRAPHIC NEWS