Webb Completes First Multi-Instrument Alignment

The sixth stage of aligning NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s mirrors to its scientific instruments so they will create the most accurate and focused images possible has concluded. While the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) continues its cooldown, optics teams have successfully aligned the rest of the observatory’s onboard instruments to Webb’s mirrors. Previous alignment efforts were so accurate that the team concluded no additional adjustments to the secondary mirror are necessary until the seventh and final stage, which will involve MIRI when it has fully cooled.

NASA’s Webb Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working Successfully

Following the completion of critical mirror alignment steps, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team expects that Webb’s optical performance will be able to meet or exceed the science goals the observatory was built to achieve.

While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb's optics and NIRCam are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. At this stage of Webb’s mirror alignment, known as “fine phasing,” each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. This image of the star, which is called 2MASS J17554042+6551277, uses a red filter to optimize visual contrast. Credits: NASA/STScI

Webb Mirror Alignment Continues Successfully

Webb continues on its path to becoming a focused observatory. The team has successfully worked through the second and third out of seven total phases of mirror alignment. With the completion of these phases, called Segment Alignment and Image Stacking, the team will now begin making smaller adjustments to the positions of Webb’s mirrors.

This hexagonal image array captured by the NIRCam instrument shows the progress made during the Segment Alignment phase, further aligning Webb’s 18 primary mirror segments and secondary mirror using precise movements commanded from the ground. Credit: NASA/STScI

Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor Is Guiding!

After starting the mirror alignment with Webb’s first detection of starlight in the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the telescope team is hard at work on the next steps for commissioning the telescope. To make more progress, the team needs to use another instrument, the Fine Guidance Sensor, to lock onto a guide star and keep the telescope pointed to high accuracy. We have asked René Doyon and Nathalie Ouellette of the Université de Montréal to explain how Webb uses its Canadian instrument in this process.

Photons Received: Webb Sees Its First Star – 18 Times

The James Webb Space Telescope is nearing completion of the first phase of the months-long process of aligning the observatory’s primary mirror using the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument.

Credit: NASA

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope turns on cameras to look at first star target

Spacecraft controllers have begun powering up the four cutting-edge instruments on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope as they prepare for the observatory's first glimpses of a target star.

This animation of the James Webb Space Telescope shows how light is reflected from its mirrors onto its scientific instruments. (Image credit: NASA)

Webb telescope reaches its final destination far from Earth

The ambitious observatory has arrived at its home — near a gravitationally special spot called L2 — for a premier view of the Universe.

This image of the Webb telescope was captured by cameras on board the rocket that launched it into space, just after the two separated.Credit: Arianespace, ESA, NASA, CSA, CNES (CC BY 2.0)

Webb’s Journey to L2 Is Nearly Complete

On Monday, Jan. 24, engineers plan to instruct NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to complete a final correction burn that will place it into its desired orbit, nearly 1 million miles away from the Earth at what is called the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or “L2” for short.

Mirror, Mirror…On Its Way!

With major deployments complete, Webb continues its journey to its final halo orbit around L2. In the meantime, there are several smaller deployments in the next couple of weeks, which constitute the beginning of a several-month phase of aligning the telescope’s optics. This week, we have started the process of moving the mirror segments (all primary plus secondary) out of their stowed launch positions. 

Credit: NASA

James Webb Space Telescope Poster

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works

The James Webb Space Telescope has been designed to answer many of the core questions that have animated astronomers over the past half-century. With a $10 billion price tag, it is one of the most ambitious engineering initiatives ever attempted. But for it to achieve its potential — nothing less than to rewrite the history of the cosmos and reshape humanity’s position within it — a lot of things have to work just right.

The James Webb Space Telescope promises to revolutionize our understanding of distant planets and deep time. Dustin Yellin for Quanta Magazine

New Method Finds Best Candidates for Telescope Time

If life exists on planets beyond our Solar System, its presence could be obscured by the haze and clouds in the planet’s atmosphere.

If starlight passing through a planetary atmosphere is blocked by clouds or haze, the resulting spectrum is flat and featureless, and no molecules or potential biomarkers are visible.