It’s been a busy time for the James Webb Space Telescope since its launch on December 25, 2021. First, Webb had to launch into space, a process that took nearly a month, and then he had a complicated seven-step alignment process to go through.
A week ago, Webb officials reported that the 18 hexagonal segments of the scope’s main mirror were almost completely cooled to the space temperature they needed to see objects sharply in infrared light. Now the mirrors appear ready, as they send fully focused light to each instrument, which in turn produces an image.
From now on, the agency added, the mirror alignment only needs a little tweaking. The next phase of work will include the commissioning of the science instruments, along with the calibration of the telescope. Commissioning instruments require lenses, masks, filters and other equipment to work properly in different configurations, to ensure they can do scientific work.
For calibration activities, there is a list of achievements that Webb must achieve before being declared operational.
“The telescope will be instructed to point to different areas of the sky, where the total amount of solar radiation hitting the observatory will vary to ensure thermal stability when changing targets,” the official said. NASA about calibration.
“Furthermore, continuous maintenance observations every two days will monitor the alignment of the mirrors and, when necessary, apply corrections to keep the mirrors in their aligned locations,” they said.
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