Eye in the Sky
Above: A rendering of the Webb telescope as it will appear in orbit! (NASA)
This January, the James Webb telescope was deployed in outer space by NASA. After its launch in December, the telescope made its way towards its final destination where it will remain in a balanced orbit between the Sun and the Earth's gravitational forces. These gravitational spots are known as Lagrange points and make excellent locations for satellites.
The powerful new telescope is set to be replace the Hubble as NASA's main tool in astronomy, with 100 times more detail than the older telescope. The Webb's 21 foot golden mirror is capable of amazing infrared imagery and will be an invaluable resource when studying exoplanets, distant stars, and all sorts of phenomena. The mirror is so big in fact, that it had to be folded into hexagonal sections at launch to protect it! Once it entered outer space, it was finally able to be unfolded and activated.
Want to track the Webb telescope on its journey? Check out this amazing timeline from NASA that shows you exactly where the telescope is and what its doing! You can even check its temperature!
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