James Webb Space Telescope: Key facts

Name

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Size

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Gold mirrors

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Position

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Operating temperature

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Vision

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Name

Who is JWST named after? James Edwin Webb, the man whose name the incredible telescope borrowed, served as NASA's administrator from 1961 to 1968.

Size

Which is the largest space telescope in
history? It's the JSWT. The highlight is the
tennis court-sized diamond-shaped sunshield.
The 21.3ft primary mirror is also one for the
srecord books.

Gold mirrors

JWST has 18 gold-plated hexagonal mirrors. The light from the deep universe becomes infrared as it travels billions of light-years
and gold reflects infrared better than any
other metal.

Position

JWST is positioned at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, located approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from earth. Because it is so far away, it will not be serviced during its stint.

Operating temperature

The temperature difference between the
side of JWST that faces the sun and the other side with instruments, is mind boggling. The former sits at 85°C, while latter is at -223°C.

Vision

As far as angular resolution or sharpness
of vision is concerned, the JSWT can see a
penny from around 64km away. For more
context, it can see a football from a distance
of 550km.

Name

Who is JWST named after? James Edwin Webb, the man whose name the incredible telescope borrowed, served as NASA's administrator from 1961 to 1968.

Size

Which is the largest space telescope inhistory? It's the JSWT. The highlight is thetennis court-sized diamond-shaped sunshield.The 21.3ft primary mirror is also one for thesrecord books.

Gold mirrors

JWST has 18 gold-plated hexagonal mirrors. The light from the deep universe becomes infrared as it travels billions of light-yearsand gold reflects infrared better than anyother metal.

Position

JWST is positioned at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, located approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from earth. Because it is so far away, it will not be serviced during its stint.

Operating temperature

The temperature difference between theside of JWST that faces the sun and the other side with instruments, is mind boggling. The former sits at 85°C, while latter is at -223°C.

Vision

As far as angular resolution or sharpnessof vision is concerned, the JSWT can see apenny from around 64km away. For morecontext, it can see a football from a distanceof 550km.

Which is the largest space telescope in
history? It's the JSWT. The highlight is the
tennis court-sized diamond-shaped sunshield.
The 21.3ft primary mirror is also one for the
srecord books.

JWST has 18 gold-plated hexagonal mirrors. The light from the deep universe becomes infrared as it travels billions of light-years
and gold reflects infrared better than any
other metal.

The temperature difference between the
side of JWST that faces the sun and the other side with instruments, is mind boggling. The former sits at 85°C, while latter is at -223°C.

As far as angular resolution or sharpness
of vision is concerned, the JSWT can see a
penny from around 64km away. For more
context, it can see a football from a distance
of 550km.