More than 6.5 metres
The centre piece of the observatory is its huge main mirror, measuring more than 6.5 metres in diameter and made up of 18 smaller, hexagonal-shaped mirrors.
Four Scientific Instruments
The observatory also has four scientific instruments : cameras to take pictures of the cosmos and spectrographs which break down light to study which elements and molecules make up objects.
Lagrange Point Two
It took the spacecraft almost a month to reach this region, called Lagrange Point two, where it remains in a fixed position behind the Earth and the Sun to give it a clear view of the cosmos.
Minimum Fuel
At the Lagrange Point two, the gravity from the Sun and the earth balance the centrifugal motion of a satellite, meaning it needs minimal fuel for course correction.
Light from Earliest Stars
In astronomy, the farther out you see, the deeper back in time you're looking. Webb's infrared capabilities are what make it uniquely powerful - allowing it to detect light from the earliest stars which have been stretched into infrared wavelengths as the Universe expanded.
A Collaboration
Webb is an international collaboration between US space agency NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), involving more than 10,000 people.
Protection of Instruments
The mirror and the instruments are protected from the light of our Sun by a tennis-court sized thermal shield made of five superimposed layers. Each layer is hair thin and together they ensure the telescope operates in the darkness needed to capture faint glimmers from the far reaches of the Universe.
Million Miles Away
Unlike the Hubble telescope which revolves around the Earth,Webb orbits around the Sun, nearly 1.6 million kilometres from us or four times the distance from our planet to the Moon.
$ 10 Billion
The lifetime cost to NASA alone will be approximately $9.7 billion, according to an analysis by the Planetary Society or $ 10.8 billion adjusted for inflation to 2020 dollars.
13.8 Billion Years
This lets it peer further back in time than any previous telescope to within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago.
The First Revelations
An international committee decided the first wave of full-colour scientific images - that were released yesterday - included the Carina Nebula, an enormous cloud of dust and gas 7,600 light years away, as well as the Southern Ring Nebula, which surrounds a dying star 2,000 light years away.
Courtesy. ExFiles * Space of the NIE
Tailpiece.
Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a quarter past 10. Earlier, the customary Wednesday 'aarathi' was carried out. Kalliani - wife of my classmate and friend, CK Karunakaran (Roll no.398) - passed into the mist of time, this morning, due to a brain hemorrhage, consequent to high blood pressure. It's just days after her dad had passed away! My tears and prayers. Will remember her demure and dignified countenance.
Power interruption for the entire day and I'd forgotten to inform Lekha about it! I mean the message, conveying the news, had come on the cellphone yesterday.
The three of us had gone to the Thriprayar Sri Rama kshetram this evening, at a half past 4, returned after a good 'darshan' by a half past 7. The temple was getting ready for the 'Karkkidaka Maasam' from the 17th. Sajish was the chauffeur.
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