The James Webb Telescope

By Johanna Smith

The James Webb Space Telescope is an international collaboration between National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, was released on December 25th 2021 at 7:30 am EST. This machinery is known as an infrared observatory that will orbit the sun at 1.5 kilometers (1 million) miles away from Earth to depict the first galaxies as well as the stars that formed our and many other planetary systems. The Webb telescope will spend five to ten years studying these formations which will be used to compare the past to the present and the present to the future.

But what is infrared? Infrared radiation is a type of radiant energy that allows any thermal object to “glow”. These waves are known to be a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Infrared lighting makes it extremely arduous for Astronomers to detect objects in space since humans can only see a small portion of this radiation known as visible light. When contributing all these elements to the structure of the James Webb Space Telescope it becomes convoluted.

Due to the disadvantage of the infrared lighting the telescope must be so frigid it can liquify air. The temperature of the scope must be below 50 Kelvin (-370°F, or -223°C) which is accomplished by the use of the sunshield. The sunshield contains five layers of kapton in which each layer is coated in aluminum. It’s purpose is to protect the telescope from any external sources of light and thermal energy such as the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The shield also radiates the machine's heat into space which ensures a stable environment. So why is the James Webb telescope so important? As mentioned earlier the telescope is directed to extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope. This data will not only be groundbreaking but it will also allow NASA to compare the beginning of the galaxies and compare it to the past and soon the future.