With the goal of peering into the universe’s deep past, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched into space six months ago. Located about a million miles from Earth, it is now fully operational after months of testing. NASA last night released the first images taken by the JWST, a 20-year project of NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and hundreds of universities and other organizations.
The JWST, the most sensitive telescope ever commissioned, “will study every phase of cosmic history-from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe,” according to NASA.
The JWST’s mirror for capturing light is over 21 feet in diameter, about 270 square feet; it was folded like origami to fit into the rocket that took it to its orbit location. To operate correctly, the telescope needs to be chilled to about -380 degrees Fahrenheit-it even has a sun shelter umbrella that is the size of a tennis court.
According to NASA, the JWST “will directly observe a part of space and time never seen before,” when the very first stars and galaxies formed more than 13.5 billion years ago.
