To finish the first stage of alignment, the group moved the primary mirror segments to set up the dots of starlight into a hexagonal image selection (bottom). Each dot of starlight is labeled with the matching mirror sector that recorded it.
” We steer the section dots into this range so that they have the very same relative places as the physical mirrors,” said Matthew Lallo, systems scientist and Telescopes Branch supervisor at the Space Telescope Science Institute. “During worldwide positioning and Image Stacking, this familiar plan offers the wavefront team a instinctive and natural method of envisioning changes in the section areas in the context of the whole primary mirror. We can now in fact view the main mirror slowly form into its precise, designated shape!”.
NASAs James Webb Space Telescope uses a procedure called wavefront sensing and control to perfect its vision in orbit. This animation shows that process. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.
Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight
The Webb team continues to make progress in aligning the observatorys mirrors. Engineers have finished the first phase in this process, called “Segment Image Identification.” The resulting image reveals that the team has moved each of Webbs 18 primary mirror sectors to bring 18 unfocused copies of a single star into a prepared hexagonal formation.
This early Webb positioning image, with dots of starlight set up in a pattern comparable to the honeycomb shape of the main mirror, is called an “image selection.” Credit: NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale
With the image range total, the team has now begun the 2nd stage of alignment: “Segment Alignment.” During this phase, the team will remedy big placing mistakes of the mirror segments and update the alignment of the secondary mirror, making each private dot of starlight more focused. When this “global positioning” is total, the group will begin the 3rd stage, called “Image Stacking,” which will bring the 18 areas of light on top of each other.
The resulting image reveals that the team has actually moved each of Webbs 18 primary mirror sectors to bring 18 unfocused copies of a single star into a prepared hexagonal formation.
Throughout this stage, the group will correct large positioning errors of the mirror sections and upgrade the positioning of the secondary mirror, making each individual dot of starlight more focused. To complete the first phase of positioning, the team moved the primary mirror sections to organize the dots of starlight into a hexagonal image array (bottom). “During global positioning and Image Stacking, this familiar arrangement provides the wavefront group a intuitive and natural method of imagining modifications in the sector spots in the context of the entire main mirror.