What is the James Webb Space Telescope and what advances will this telescope allow for?
1 Answer
The Next Frontier for Space Astronomy.
Explanation:
James Webb telescope is the Successor to the one of the biggest wonders in the world of Astronomy the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 and is still operating, but it won't be operating for long as it's gyro sensors are failing and there are no more repair missions commissioned. The Hubble Space Telescope was 2.4 meters in diameter, the James Webb telescope is about 6.5 meters in diameter. The James Webb telescope will be launched in space super folded and it will be placed somewhere about 1 million miles from the Earth. The mirror will unfold once it reaches it's position. One drawback is that this distance is so far from the Earth that no astronaut can travel to do repairs if anything goes wrong. So if something goes wrong whether it is 10 Years after the launch or 1 hour after the launch we will be left with approximately 6-10 Billion dollars of Space Junk.
The Hubble telescope cannot see further than 13 Billion years in the past. With the James Webb telescope Scientists hope to look back at the Dawn of time. A time after 13.2 Billion Years.
Hubble Space telescope could see in ultraviolet, throughout the visible range and into the near infrared range. The James Webb telescope will not operate in ultraviolet but will operate at the reddest of wavelengths just beyond where the eye can see.
The James Webb telescope is all set to be launched somewhere in 2018 and if it does, it will truly be the next frontier for Space Astronomy.
