James Webb Space Telescope: Unlocking the Early Universe

  1. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on December 25, 2021.
  2. It orbits the Sun about 1 million miles from Earth at the L2 Lagrange point.
  3. Webb’s 21-foot gold-coated mirror is the largest ever flown in space.
  4. Designed for infrared astronomy, it can see through dust clouds to hidden cosmic regions.
  5. JWST looks back over 13 billion years, revealing the first galaxies after the Big Bang.
  6. It can analyze exoplanet atmospheres for potential signs of habitability.
  7. Its sunshield, the size of a tennis court, keeps instruments ultra-cold.
  8. Webb has captured galaxies forming when the universe was less than a billion years old.
  9. It is a joint mission between NASA, ESA, and CSA, decades in the making.
  10. JWST is transforming our understanding of cosmic origins and the search for life.