NASA has scheduled the launch of the JSWT (James Webb Space Telescope) for October 31 of this year. This is the most powerful and expensive space telescope that man has ever created, with a range of observation 100 times larger than the world-famous Hubble Space Telescope and a development cost of around $10 billion.
The James Webb was developed to observe the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the universe. Compared to the Hubble, it will have a larger primary mirror (a diameter about 2.5 times larger), which will ensure the ability to capture more light. It will orbit the Sun at a distance of 1.5 million km from Earth, in the second Lagrange point. This orbit allows to maintain its relative position with respect to the Earth and the Sun, so that its heat shield can ensure a temperature of -233 ° to the delicate instrumentation on board.
The JWST team with a 1:1 model of the telescope behind them (source: nasa.gov).
JSWT is also specialized in the study of infrared radiation. The universe is in fact in continuous expansion, celestial bodies have a relative speed of departure from the earth that increases with distance, and the Doppler effect causes the phenomenon of Redshift: the light emitted as ultraviolet or visible light is "shifted" towards the wavelengths of red to the areas of infrared light. To study these bodies, the telescope must be optimized for this type of light.
Webb's main goals involve studying the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets in the universe. To observe the oldest celestial bodies, we need to study the most distant areas in space. Once in orbit, in fact, the JWST will be able to obtain information from areas of the universe never explored, from the first generation of stars to the myriad of extrasolar planets in our galaxy, some of which may be habitable. The possibility of exploring deep space represents a real journey into the past of our Universe.
The light radiation from the most remote regions of the Universe, in fact, takes billions of years to reach us. Webb will study celestial bodies (or at least the radiation they have emitted) of 13.6 billion years ago, that is from 100 to 250 million years after the Big Bang, the period of formation of the first galaxies.
Keep yourselves free for next Halloween, no masquerade parties and balls, Webb's launch will keep us glued to the screen as we go back in time a bit!
Written by Gianmarco Frangipane of the VGen Engineering Hub
