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> The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - Artist view

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - Artist view

author: Walter B. Myers/Novapix

reference: e-sou05-90007

Image Size 300 DPI: 59 * 38 cm

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope scheduled for launch in 2018. Equipped with a large mirror 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter, it will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy and will reside in an orbit about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the Earth. The shaded side of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as it may appear later this decade when it is observing from the Earth–Sun L2 point about 930 thousand miles from the Earth. Part of the Milky Way can be seen reflected in the 21-foot diameter mirror assembly. This assembly is composed of 18 hexagonal segments of gold-coated beryllium which combine to create a near-infrared light-collecting area of about 80 square feet (the Hubble Space Telescope has a collecting area of 48 square feet). The JWST's sensitive optical elements are shaded from the perpetual sunlight via a "parasol" consisting of multiple spaced layers of polyimide film. These layers act as a passive cooling barrier between the 185°F sunward side and the -388°F shaded side hosting the optics and sensors.

Keywords for this photo:

2016 - ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE - ASTRONOMICAL SATELLITE - ASTRONOMY - ILLUSTRATION - INFRARED - JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE - JWST - LAGRANGIAN POINT - POSTER - SOLAR PANEL - SPACE - STAR -