NASAs James Webb Space Telescope will be more severe than its famous predecessor in a range of methods, including its cosmic locale.The $10 billion Webb is significantly larger, more complicated and more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, which has actually been studying the paradises from Earth orbit for more than three decades. And the brand-new observatory, which is scheduled to release on Dec. 24, will be going much farther afield as well– all the way out to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from our world in the Marsward (not sunward) direction.Related: Building the James Webb Space Telescope (gallery) Lagrange points are gravitationally steady areas where spacecraft can basically “park,” preserving the same relative position without expending much fuel. Webb isnt going to L2 for propellant conservation. Its going there to stay cool.Webb is optimized to view deep space in infrared (IR) light, long wavelengths that we feel as heat. (Hubble, by contrast, views primarily in ultraviolet and noticeable wavelengths). To get the faintest IR signals, Webbs scientific instruments should stay incredibly frosty. So the observatory sports a five-layer sunshield that will be about as big as a tennis court when its fully unfurled.But the sunshield wont supply the requisite security if its dealing with far from the sun. Whichs where L2 comes in.” What is unique about this orbit is that it lets the telescope stay in line with the Earth as it moves around the sun,” NASA officials composed in an L2 explainer.” This allows the satellites large sunshield to secure the telescope from the light and heat of the sun and Earth (and moon),” they added. “This is why the telescope will be out at the 2nd Lagrange point.” If all goes according to plan, Webbs instruments will run at around minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 225 degrees Celsius). Temperature levels on the telescopes hot side– where Webbs solar panels, interactions antenna and other non-scientific equipment are situated– will hover around 185 degrees Fahrenheit (88 degrees C).” The temperature level difference between the cold and hot sides of the telescope is substantial– you could practically boil water on the hot side, and freeze nitrogen on the cold side!” NASA officials wrote.The distance to L2 highlights another crucial distinction in between Hubble and Webb. The older Hubble telescope was created to be serviced by spacewalking astronauts, who upgraded and repaired Hubble 5 times in between 1993 and 2009. The very first of these objectives was particularly crucial, repairing a defect in Hubbles primary mirror that triggered the scopes preliminary images to be disappointingly blurry.But 930,000 miles is too far to send astronauts, so Webb– which sports a 21.3-foot (6.5 meters) main mirror, nearly three times larger than that of Hubble– will be on its own at L2.Diagram of the Lagrange points related to the sun-Earth system. (Image credit: NASA/ WMAP Science Team) After launch, itll take Webb about 30 days to get to its location. Once ensconced in orbit around L2– Webb will circle the point, not simply sit in it– and completely taken a look at, the telescope will begin an ambitious and differed observing project. Webb will study a few of the universes very first stars and galaxies and smell the atmospheres of neighboring exoplanets for possible signs of life, among lots of other tasks.Webb wont be the very first spacecraft to set up store at L2. NASAs Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe operated there (from 2001 to 2010), as did the European Space Agencys (ESA) Herschel area telescope (2009 to 2013) and Planck probe (2009 to 2013). And a variety of others have operated at Sun-Earth L1, which is 930,000 miles from Earth in the sunward direction. Those probes consist of the NASA-ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and the Deep Space Climate Observatory, a joint task of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.There are an overall of five sun-Earth Lagrange points. L3 is in line with L1 and L2, however on the other side of the sun. L4 and L5 are 60 degrees ahead of and behind Earth, respectively, on our planets orbital course. Mike Wall is the author of “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; shown by Karl Tate), a book about the look for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook..
And the new observatory, which is set up to release on Dec. 24, will be going much farther afield as well– all the way out to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from our world in the Marsward (not sunward) direction.Related: Building the James Webb Space Telescope (gallery) Lagrange points are gravitationally stable areas where spacecraft can more or less “park,” preserving the same relative position without expending much fuel. Webb isnt going to L2 for propellant conservation. Temperature levels on the telescopes hot side– where Webbs solar panels, communications antenna and other non-scientific gear are located– will hover around 185 degrees Fahrenheit (88 degrees C). NASA officials wrote.The range to L2 highlights another crucial distinction in between Hubble and Webb. As soon as ensconced in orbit around L2– Webb will circle the point, not merely sit in it– and totally examined out, the telescope will begin an enthusiastic and differed observing project.