INCREDIBLE pictures of a nearby galaxy have been snapped by Nasa’s new $10billion James Webb space telescope.
The space administration’s official Instagram account posted a high resolution picture of a nearby galaxy along with one from another telescope 20 years ago
2
2
The images show just how far technology has progressed in recent decades.
The James Webb Telescope is the most powerful telescope ever launched – and work on the project first began in 1996.
$10billion dollars and and 25 years later, the James Webb Telescope launched on Christmas Day last year.
With 18 gold-plated mirror segments, the James Webb Telescope can capture images with what was once unthinkable resolution.
Nasa’s post featured a section of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the caption wrote “Webb’s image reveals tendrils of interstellar gas in unprecedented detail.”
The image was presented in a side-by-side with a photo of the same galactic area taken by the now-deactivated Spitzer Space Telescope.
Nasa’s post emphasized that the clarity of the James Webb image is a product of its large hexagonal mirror.
“The most important component of a telescope is its primary mirror,” the caption wrote.
Most read in Tech
“The larger the mirror, the more light it can collect, and the smaller, dimmer, and more distant objects it can detect. Webb’s mirror boasts an area almost 45 times greater than Spitzer’s.”
The James Webb Telescope should be fully calibrated and operational by June 2022.
The James Webb Telescope will take the place of the famed Hubble Telescope as the premier deep space imaging device.
The telescope is loaded with state of the art technologies.
To capture its latest image of the Large Magellanic Cloud, it deployed the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
The James Webb Telescope took years of innovation and planning to see to its deployment.
The instrument was folded “like high-tech origami” into a rocket, and then unraveled to its 21-foot diameter in space.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
