Desk Report
Publish: 08 Jan 2022, 11:59 pm
Webb Telescope || Artist Concept
The
James Webb Space Telescope completed its two-week-long deployment phase on
Saturday, unfolding the final mirror panel as it readies to study every phase
of cosmic history.
"The
final wing is now deployed," NASA said on Twitter, adding the team was
working "to latch the wing into place, a multi-hour process."
Because
the telescope was too large to fit into a rocket's nose cone in its operational
configuration, it was transported folded-up. Unfurling has been a complex and
challenging task -- the most daunting such project has ever attempted,
according to NASA.
The
most powerful space telescope ever built and the successor to Hubble, Webb
blasted off in an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on December 25, and is
heading to its orbital point, a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from
Earth.
Its
infrared technology allows it to see the first stars and galaxies that formed
13.5 billion years ago, giving astronomers new insight into the earliest epoch
of the Universe.
"Before
we celebrate, we've still got work to do," NASA said in its live updates.
"When the final latch is secure, NASA Webb will be fully unfolded in
space."
Earlier this week, the telescope deployed its five-layered sunshield -- a 70-foot (21 meter) long, kite-shaped apparatus that acts like a parasol, ensuring Webb's instruments are kept in the shade so they can detect faint infrared signals from the far reaches of the Universe.
Subscribe Shampratik Deshkal Youtube Channel
Topic : James Web Telescope NASA
© 2024 Shampratik Deshkal All Rights Reserved. Design & Developed By Root Soft Bangladesh