What makes James Webb Space Telescope more Powerful than its Predecessor?

Many scientists think that there is another planet like Earth somewhere in the cosmos, and they are still looking for it. Compared to its predecessors, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be more potent and able to see farther into space, allowing researchers to find distant planets in distant galaxies. It will even equip us with the means of searching for indications of a possible life-supporting environment. Webb Telescope began its current mission on December 25, 2021.

Although there are obviously larger ground-based telescopes available, JWST will orbit above the atmosphere, giving it a clearer view of the sky than the venerable Hubble Space Telescope. The 6 tonne Webb Telescope, which is being funded by NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), will orbit the planet 1.5 million kilometres away. Numerous new technical innovations are included in it, such as a split folding mirror and fold-down sun visor.

Astrophysicist Blake Bullock, head of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, the project’s contractor, explains, “To get to the oldest galaxies, we required a bigger mirror, and that bigger mirror needed to be gazing at a higher frequency of light.” In order to create a sunscreen the size of a tennis court that functions as a large umbrella, it has to remain extremely cold, at minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit, she continues. “It filters the sunshine and is like SPF 1 million.” In the video, which also serves as a trailer for the forthcoming film Telescope, Bullock and a number of other specialists explain why the JWST is such a remarkable achievement.

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1. The James Webb Telescope is powerful.

The largest and most powerful telescope ever launched, to quote. Large telescopes are available on Earth, but there are none of this kind or sophistication in space. It’s unquestionably the strongest thing there is, says Bullock. The Webb telescope, which is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble, is its successor. According to the Webb telescope’s website, Webb telescope also has a significantly bigger mirror than Hubble, which allows it to view farther into the past than Hubble can. Webb telescope will be 1.5 million kilometres from Earth while Hubble is in a relatively near orbit. The telescope’s primary mirror is fully deployed in a recent NASA video that shows it in the position it will be in orbit.

2. It’s a time machine of sorts.

“Hubble was able to detect young galaxies when conditions were right. Babies are what we want to see,” says Bullock. “With Webb telescope, we will be able to take a first glimpse at the very earliest things in the cosmos. Additionally, we will be able to describe distant exoplanets for the first time and determine if they have oceans, atmospheres, or other chemical components “. The telescope will also make it possible for astronomers to examine far-off asteroids, some of which have moons, in order to better understand the structure and development of our solar system. The research team intends to learn more about the past of our solar system and add additional dimensions to what we currently know by studying the histories of certain asteroids. According to Andrew S. Rivkin of the Johns’ Applied Physics Laboratory Hopkins University, “Webb telescope allows us to ‘visit’ many more asteroids with extremely high-quality images that we can’t achieve with ground-based telescopes.”

3. It will help us map the universe.

“The Webb telescope won’t be able to tell with certainty if there is unquestionably life on a planet or not, but it is beginning to map this space and saying, “That may be an ocean there,” which provides us a blueprint to follow.” “Make some inquiries. Do some serious research, “He claims. Because freshly created stars and planets are concealed by dust that filters visible light but allows infrared light to get through, Webb telescope will view the cosmos in this infrared spectrum.

4. And it may help us find the next Earth.

“We intend to investigate the nature of the universe’s dark energy as well as learn more about these really old things. We can also determine whether there is an additional Earth by describing planets surrounding other suns. Additionally, Webb telescope will aid in the search for exoplanets, something Hubble is currently performing but was not intended to accomplish, according to Space.com.

5. It’s a technological coup.

Bullock asserts that this discovery “has the potential to substantially alter our textbooks since it will radically broaden our picture of the cosmos.” “We will be far better equipped to comprehend the cosmos in which we live. We can already observe how technology has changed everything. Because such a perfect mirror had never been produced before, Northrop Grumman, who developed the telescope’s mirrors, had to pioneer.

“Eye surgeons employ the technologies we developed, therefore there are real advantages. At the level of the computer, we also learn things. We’ve made significant progress in comprehending how to bend this enormous, eyeball-sized sunscreen tennis court. With a main mirror that is 6.5 metres in diameter, Webb telescope has a collecting area that is seven times larger than the mirrors. Webb telescope will have a substantially wider field of vision than the Hubble camera and a significantly higher spatial resolution than the Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope, based on the Webb telescope website.

JWST’s launch was initially slated for 2018, but NASA has repeatedly postponed it because additional time is required for component and integration testing. In reality, NASA said in May that the telescope had been folded and stored properly in the exact position it will be in when placed onto the rocket for flight. In a recent video from NASA’s Goddard Space Center, you can witness that piece of origami magic. The telescope has provided us with an unmatched picture of the cosmos since it was launched. Although Webb telescope is frequently characterised to as Hubble’s replacement, we prefer the term “successor.” After all, Webb telescope is Hubble’s scientific successor, and the Hubble results served as the inspiration for his scientific endeavours. Our search for longer wavelengths will allow Hubble to “travel further” than it has before. This is thanks to the science of Hubble. Particularly farther-off objects have a greater redshift, shifting their light from the UV and optical to the near infrared. An infrared telescope is therefore necessary for studies of these far-off objects, such as the first galaxies that formed in the cosmos.

The other reason Webb telescope isn’t taking the place of Hubble is that their skill sets are different. Hubble will study the universe predominantly at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths, whereas Webb will see it mostly in the infrared (although it has some infrared capabilities). Additionally, Webb’s mirror is substantially bigger than Hubble’s. Webb telescope can look deeper into the past than Hubble can because of its greater light-gathering range. At the second Lagrange point, Webb telescope will be 1.5 million kilometres (km) from Earth while Hubble is in a relatively near orbit (L2). Due to the speed at which light travels, the farther distant an item is, the further back in time we are gazing.

This graph compares the maximum distance that various telescopes can observe in the past. In essence, Hubble can view what the Webb telescope will be able to see are “baby galaxies,” whereas Hubble can see the equivalent of “little galaxies.” Because Webb telescope is an infrared telescope, this is one of the reasons it can detect the early galaxies. The galaxies in the cosmos are also expanding. The general theory of relativity by Albert Einstein truly comes into play when discussing the farthest away objects. It explains that the universe is expanding because the distance between things (galaxies) is being stretched, which causes the items to move away. Additionally, any light in that area is stretched, resulting in longer light wavelengths. Since this light travels to us as infrared light, it may render distant things very dark (or invisible) in visible wavelengths of light. The best telescopes for seeing these young galaxies are infrared ones like the Webb telescope.

The European Space Agency also orbited point L2 with its infrared instrument, the Herschel Space Observatory (where Webb telescope will be). The wavelength range is the primary distinction between Webb and Herschel: Webb’s wavelength runs from 0.6 to 28.5 microns, whereas Herschel covered the range from 60 to 500 microns. With a mirror that is around 6.5 metres tall compared to Herschel’s 3.5 metres, Webb telescope is likewise taller. Different scientific disciplines selected the wavelength ranges. Herschel searched for the extremes, the most active star-forming galaxies that emit the most of their radiation in the far infrared. Webb telescope will need very sensitive near-infrared imaging to discover the earliest galaxies emerging in the early Universe. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31), which is orange in the Herschel infrared image to the right, also appears in the XMM-Newton X-ray image (blue).

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Ahsan Azam is the author who specializes in avionics as well as research writing. The author has a keen attention to detail and is focused on providing interesting content to the readers.

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