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Revolutionary James Webb telescope blasts off into space | DW News

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A revolutionary telescope has been launched into space, marking the beginning of a new era of scientific exploration.
The James Webb telescope - named after a former head of NASA - lifted off on board a rocket from the European Space Agency's launch base in French Guiana. The launch is the culmination of several decades of work by European, Canadian and US space agencies. It's being hailed as the world's most powerful telescope.
The James Webb is expected to beam back new clues about the origins of the universe.
The new eye in the sky is the successor to the legendary Hubble space telescope. Its six and a half meter mirror makes the Hubble look tiny by comparison.
The James Webb, the biggest telescope ever sent into space, is made up of 18 segments plated with a razor-thin gold coating. The instrument has to be folded up to fit into the rocket’s nose-cone. The telescope will scan the heavens using long-wave infra-red light.
Astronomers will be able to look back towards the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago. Back to the origins of the universe and the formation of the first stars and galaxies.
The new telescope could also prove decisive in the search for extra-terrestrial life. It can probe so-called exo-planets. Nearly 5000 have already been discovered orbiting distant suns. The James Webb will monitor how exo-planets move in conjunction with the stars.
Transits like these mean it can take a virtual fingerprint of the atmosphere of these remote worlds – and assess for the first time whether they hold the building blocks of life. Before the research can begin, there will be a delicate two-week operation in which the telescope has to unfold itself.
Never before has a satellite been launched with so many moving parts, and nothing can be allowed to go wrong. And it will be six months after the launch, before the telescope is ready to gather its first scientific data.


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#NASA #JamesWebbTelescope #Astronomy
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