THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE: A TRUE ENGINEERING MARVEL

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        The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and the most powerful space telescope ever built till today. The interesting fact is that James Webb telescope is very big and its as tall as a 3-story building and as long as a tennis court! It is so big that it has to fold origami-style to fit inside the rocket to launch. The James Webb Telescope sees the universe in light that is invisible to human eyes. This light is called as infrared radiation, and we can actually feel it as just heat. The James Webb Space Telescope uses its infrared cameras to see through cosmic dust in our universe. Stars and planets form inside those cosmic dusty clouds, so peeking inside could possibly lead to exciting new discoveries! It will also be able to see objects (like the first galaxies) that are so far away that the expansion of the universe has made their light shift from visible to infrared! Even more interesting fact is that mirrors of this telescope have a thin layer of gold coating that which helps mirrors to reflect the infrared light. 


        As we know there is lots and lots of solar radiation and cosmic radiation out there in the outer space, the James Webb telescope’s cameras are sensitive to heat from the Sun. Just like you might wear a hat or a visor to block the Sun from your eyes, Webb has a sunshield to protect its instruments and mirrors. The telescope’s sunshield is about the size of a tennis court and it has five layers of protection from the solar radiation. The temperature difference between the sun-facing and shaded sides of the telescope is more than 600 degrees Fahrenheit! 


       In fact, the space telescopes see the universe by using mirrors to collect and focus light from distant stars. The bigger the mirror of the space telescope, the more details the telescope can see. However, it’s very difficult to launch a giant and heavy mirror into space. So, engineers gave the James Webb telescope 18 smaller mirrors that fit together like a puzzle. The mirrors fold up inside the rocket, then got unfolded to form one large mirror in orbit. The James Webb Space Telescope will help to study about distant stars, planets, etc., to unravel the mysteries of the universe and atmospheres of exoplanets.



Comments

  1. AnanthNovember 16, 2022 at 12:09 PM

    Wonderfully and uniquely presented with very useful information on James Webb telescope.

    ReplyDelete

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