James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. Its high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This enables investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.
Three-quarter view of the top
Bottom (Sun-facing side)
Test unit of the sunshield stacked and expanded at the Northrop Grumman facility in California, 2014
Engineers cleaning a test mirror with carbon dioxide snow, 2015
Infrared astronomy is a sub-discipline of astronomy which specializes in the observation and analysis of astronomical objects using infrared (IR) radiation. The wavelength of infrared light ranges from 0.75 to 300 micrometers, and falls in between visible radiation, which ranges from 380 to 750 nanometers, and submillimeter waves.
SOFIA is an infrared telescope in an aircraft, shown here in a 2009 test
High on the Chajnantor Plateau, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array provides an extraordinary place for infrared astronomy.
Hubble infrared view of the Tarantula Nebula.
Artist impression of galaxy W2246-0526, a single galaxy glowing in infrared light as intensely as 350 trillion Suns.
