Locked and loaded! James Webb Telescope locks on star for guidance in space
2 years, 10 months ago

Locked and loaded! James Webb Telescope locks on star for guidance in space

India Today  

Days after it began aligning the mirrors, the James Webb Telescope locked onto a guide star using its Fine Guidance Sensor to keep the telescope pointed to high accuracy. Engineers fired the Fine Guidance Sensor for aliveness and functional tests on January 28 after the telescope's first detection of starlight in the Near-Infrared Camera. The sensor, along with the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph, has been developed by Canada and measures the exact position of a guide star in its field of view 16 times per second and sends adjustments to the telescope’s fine steering mirror about three times per second. The James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the legendary Hubble Space Telescope, was launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana in December on board the powerful Ariane-5 rocket to a destination nearly 15,00,000 kilometres away from its home planet.

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There are over 1000 galaxies in this one picture clicked by James Webb Telescope
2 years, 6 months ago

There are over 1000 galaxies in this one picture clicked by James Webb Telescope

India Today  

The James Webb Telescope, cooling in the darkness of space, is ready for the first observation and the first pictures will drop on July 12, but before we see those iconic images, a tease has been dropped. The image, captured to test how well the telescope could stay locked onto a target, is mono-chromatic and is displayed in false colour …

James Webb Telescope up and running: Mirrors aligned, science to begin by July
2 years, 8 months ago

James Webb Telescope up and running: Mirrors aligned, science to begin by July

India Today  

After spending over three months at its new home, the James Webb Telescope is fully aligned. While the James Webb Team remains quiet on what will be the telescope’s first target, a detailed schedule of the telescope’s missions has been released online. “Upon completing the seventh and final stage of telescope alignment, the team held a set of key decision …

Webb telescope shares new image after reaching optics milestone
2 years, 9 months ago

Webb telescope shares new image after reaching optics milestone

CNN  

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. “The images are focused together as finely as the laws of physics allow,” said Marshall Perrin, Webb deputy telescope scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “But as we were focusing on those bright stars, we couldn’t help but see the rest of the universe coming into focus behind them, …

James Webb Telescope gets clarity of vision as mirrors align
2 years, 10 months ago

James Webb Telescope gets clarity of vision as mirrors align

India Today  

The James Webb Telescope, which is undergoing its commissioning phase, is slowly taking position in space to observe the distant universe and the first light after the Big bang. The James Webb team completed the segment alignment and image stacking process and is now making smaller adjustments to the positions of the mirrors. "The completion of this process, known as …

How is James Webb Telescope shaping up? 18 dots of starlight pave way
2 years, 10 months ago

How is James Webb Telescope shaping up? 18 dots of starlight pave way

India Today  

The 18 golden mirrors on the James Webb Telescope have begun to form the iconic hexagonal shape as engineers continue to align them from 15,00,000 kilometers away. Nasa released the image which showed that the team has moved each of Webb’s 18 primary mirror segments to bring 18 unfocused copies of a single star into a planned hexagonal formation. Nasa …

James Webb Telescope captures image made of 2 billion pixels as it sees a star 18 times
2 years, 10 months ago

James Webb Telescope captures image made of 2 billion pixels as it sees a star 18 times

India Today  

Nearly 20 days after it arrived at its orbit, the James Webb Telescope dropped the first images in the form of a selfie as engineers near the completion of the first phase of the alignment process. The team had to confirm that NIRCam was ready to collect light from celestial objects, and then identify starlight from the same star in …

Webb telescope’s first test images include an unexpected ‘selfie’
2 years, 11 months ago

Webb telescope’s first test images include an unexpected ‘selfie’

CNN  

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. NASA Capturing starlight Webb’s latest challenge was a trial run of the Near Infrared Camera, or NIRCam, identifying dots of starlight from the same star in each of the 18 hexagonal segments of its massive mirror. Webb created a mosaic of 18 points of starlight when mirror segments reflected this light back …

And then there was light! First photons strike iconic golden mirrors on James Webb Telescope
2 years, 11 months ago

And then there was light! First photons strike iconic golden mirrors on James Webb Telescope

India Today  

Over a week after arriving at the second Lagrangian point from where it will observe the birth of our universe, the James Webb Telescope began its three-month-long process to align the mirrors. The US space agency said that to work together, the telescope’s 18 primary mirror segments need to match each other to a fraction of a wavelength of light …

James Webb Telescope clears key mission review as launch nears
3 years, 6 months ago

James Webb Telescope clears key mission review as launch nears

India Today  

The James Webb Telescope, which is scheduled to be launched in October this year, cleared a key final mission analysis review before it lifts off on an Ariane 5 rocket. Arianespace performed the technical analysis on the mission and the telescope, saying that key aspects, including the launch trajectory and payload separation, showed positive results. TO OPERATE 1.5 MILLION KM …

James Webb Telescope spreads golden wings one last time on Earth before heading out to space
3 years, 7 months ago

James Webb Telescope spreads golden wings one last time on Earth before heading out to space

India Today  

The much-awaited window to the far reaches of the cosmos is in the final stages of preparation as the James Webb Telescope opened its iconic primary mirror for one last time on Earth, marking a key milestone in the preparations for its launch set for later this year. Following the mirror's safety checks, "all of Webb’s many movable parts will …

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