The James Webb Space Telescope scheduled to be sent into orbit no

earlier than December 22 is NASA’s largest and most powerful space

science telescope ever constructed.
Anirudh Aggarwal
Mentor for Geography, Polity, IR,
Science Tech for UPSC CSE.

Engineering from IIT Madras

Ex-DSP, Punjab Police

Cleared CAPF (AC)

ANIUPSC
Get Subscription Now

ANIUPSC ANIUPSC

PLUS ICONIC
Benefits of Using ANIUPSC Code for
Plus Subscription

1. My Personal Guidance for UPSC CSE Exam

2. Will be added to Whatsapp Group for Doubts.

3. 20 Books Free Delivered to your home.

ANIUPSC
ANIUPSC
ANIUPSC

Geography & Science Tech Questions

made by Anirudh Aggarwal
 About JWST
JWST is a joint venture between the US (Nasa), European (Esa) and Canadian
space agencies (CSA).

It is an orbiting infrared observatory that will complement and extend the

discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage
and greatly improved sensitivity.

Webb was formerly known as the “Next Generation Space Telescope” (NGST)
and it was renamed in 2002 after a former NASA administrator, James Webb.

It will be a large infrared telescope with an approximately 6.5 meter primary

mirror.
 The James Webb Space
Telescope is pictured standing
tall and glimmering gold inside
the cleanroom of NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland.
The primary mirror is composed of 18
hexagonal-shaped mirror segments,
each 1.32 metres in diameter and
weighing approximately 20 kilograms.

Each of the telescope's mirrors are

covered in a microscopically thin layer
of gold, which optimises them for
reflecting infrared light – the primary
wavelength of light this telescope will
observe.
 About the Payload?
Carrying four scientific
instruments – Near-Infrared
Camera, Near-Infrared
Spectrograph, Mid-Infrared
Instrument, and Near-Infrared
Imager and Slitless
Spectrograph – the telescope
will “hunt for the unobserved
formation of the first galaxies,
as well as to look inside dust
clouds where stars and
planetary systems are forming
today,” according to NASA.
 What will be the purpose of Telescope?
The collected data will help find answers to questions in four areas of
modern astronomy:
 First light
 Assembly of galaxies
 Birth of stars and protoplanetary systems
 Planetary systems and the origin of life.
 Why does it carry infrared cameras?
About 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang,
our universe was extremely hot and filled
with dense particles.

As it slowly cooled, it gave rise to the

building blocks – helium and hydrogen.
Studies have suggested that the first stars
formed about 150–200 million years after
the Big Bang.
The visible or UV light from the first stars and galaxies shift to redder
wavelengths by the time the telescope sees it.
For this reason, Webb is equipped with near- and mid-infrared instruments.
By studying the earliest galaxies and comparing them to today’s galaxies we
can understand the growth and evolution of galaxies.
The light from the first stars and galaxies formed nearly 13.6 billion
years ago will have to travel through space and time before reaching
the telescope. By the time this light reaches the telescope, its colour
changes, and this phenomenon is called redshift.
 How will Webb study the birth of stars and
planetary systems?
Stars are born within clouds of warm gas
and dust and young stars usually emit
radiation in the near- and mid-infrared in
the early stages, Webb’s near- and mid-
infrared will help study these star-forming
regions.

The Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless

Spectrograph instrument will help Webb
study the planetary systems. NIRISS can
capture light from 0.6 microns (visible red)
to 5 microns (mid-infrared) in wavelength.
 Webb is also designed to study our Solar System’s planets – Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune – and their satellites.
It will also study comets, asteroids, and minor planets at or beyond the
orbit of Mars.
 Webb vs other space telescopes
The Webb telescope is said to be the
scientific successor to the Hubble and
Spitzer space telescopes. Webb has a
larger primary mirror about 2.5 times
larger in diameter than Hubble’s
mirror. Webb will operate much farther
from Earth (1.5 million km away).
The Kepler telescope launched in 2009 and retired in 2018 helped identify planets
that are located in or near the habitable zone of other stars.
NASA says that Kepler was “designed to be a “wide and shallow” survey
telescope, while Webb is designed for “narrow and deep” focused studies with
near and mid-IR imaging and spectroscopy.”
 Another large infrared telescope the
Herschel Space Observatory built and
operated by the European Space Agency
was active from 2009 to 2013.

“By working at longer wavelengths, Herschel

saw colder objects, such as the earliest
stages of star formation in dark clouds and
emission from molecules such as water.
Webb will view more energetic phenomena
including forming proto-stars and very
distant galaxies,” says NASA.