This representation was designed and produced by the graphic designer of Courrier international, Catherine Doutey. It makes it possible to visualize essential information concerning the James Webb space telescope and to compare it to Hubble, another space telescope, in orbit around the Earth since 1990 and which has enabled astronomers to acquire new knowledge about the Universe.
Launched on December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is now in orbit around Lagrange Point 2 (L2), 1.5 million kilometers from our planet. Its position, the 18 segments of the perfectly aligned primary mirror, its sun visor, the scientific instruments with which it is equipped will allow it to look further than all the telescopes before it. It should give us images of the first stars, which appeared 200 million years after the big bang, but also reveal the atmosphere of exoplanets and, why not, possible traces of life.
Despite the impact of a micrometeoroid larger than what was modeled on the ground, JWST will be fully operational on July 12, confirmed NASA boss Bill Nelson. On that day, the American space agency should reveal to the public the first complete shots taken by this engineering gem, the overall cost of which amounts to nearly 9 billion euros.
The telescope has already satisfied specialists and amateurs by providing, as of March 16, “a razor-sharp photo of a nondescript star against a backdrop of more distant galaxies, showing that the telescope’s optical system is working almost perfectly,” wrote CBS News. The expectations as to what he will be able to reveal to us are therefore all the greater.