Astronomers around the globe have captured NASA’s $10 million James Webb Space Telescope soaring through space.
The telescope that was launched from Guiana Space Centre Christmas Day is now seen only as a tiny speck among the stars.
One clip was captured by Gianluca Masi, manager of the Virtual Telescope Project, provided by the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy.
It’s based on a single 120-second exposure on December 29, collected with a robotic unit called ‘Elena’ that’s remotely accessible in real-time over the internet.
When the footage was captured, the telescope was around 340,000 miles (550,000 km) away from Earth, or about 1.5 times further away than the Moon.
James Webb Space Telescope, (JWST), is approximately 40% away from the second Lagrangian points (L2) where it will spend at least a decade studying the universe through infrared.
NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is seen as a mere speck in the sky among the stars in this capture by the Virtual Telescope Project
This is my attempt to see JWST in action from Scotland, far north. Two slowly moving dots represent Eridanus and the telescope. pic.twitter.com/ZhKpOXMZqE
— Ruari Mackenzie (@mackenzie_ruari) December 26, 2021
Another astronomer, Ruari Mackenzie at ETH Zürich, took footage of JWST on Boxing Day from the far north of Scotland.
The footage, posted to Twitter, shows ‘two slowly moving dots’ – JWST itself and the upper stage of the Ariane 5 launch rocket.
Both can be seen moving past Eridanus, a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, according to Mackenzie.
Artist’s impression showing the James Webb Space Telescope, folded inside the Ariane 5 rocket following launch from Europe’s Spaceport.
What about using your telescope as a telescope for observation? This is an accelerated recording@NASAWebbIt was on its way from Dordrecht (NL) to Lagrange point 2 just 11 hours after launch. A 12 inch dobsonian was used to visually observe the launch. #JamesWebb#JWST pic.twitter.com/pKlCoZokpz
— Gideon van Buitenen (@giddgvb) December 26, 2021
Meanwhile, Gideon van Buitenen, an astronomer based in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, shared an accelerated recording of JWST on Twitter.
The footage was captured between 23:18 UTC and 23:26 UTC on December 25, less than 11 hours following JWST’s launch at 12:00 UTC.
JWST was launched on November 28th. It began unfolding the massive sunshield three days later. NASA released this information on December 28.
Over five days the sunshield will be gradually deployed. Once fully opened, it will measure approximately as large as a tennis court. It will provide protection for Webb’s optics.
JWST has been developed at a cost of $8.8 billion (£6.6 billion), with operational expenses projected to bring its total price tag to about $9.66 billion (£7.2 billion), according to Reuters.
It is expected to have a power of about 100 times that its predecessor, Hubble Space Telescope.
JWST is an international collaboration between NASA and the Canadian and European space agencies. It was launched in 1996.
The launch delay of months had caused it to be delayed for several months. This was after years of construction delays. Its first scheduled launch date is set for 2007.
After being rescheduled last Christmas Eve, it was finally moved to December 25, where the launch window would be between 07.20 ET (12.20 GMT), and 07.52 ET (12.52 GMT).
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a revolutionary NASA instrument has lifted off successfully to begin its long journey into space. It will replace the Hubble telescope. This is after years of delays and planning.
Webb is expected to make unexpected discoveries and aid humanity in understanding the origins of our universe.
The goal is to go back over 13.5 billion year to find the first galaxies and stars that were formed after the Big Bang.
Webb will primarily look at the universe from the infrared while Hubble examines it primarily at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths since 1990, when Hubble was launched.
Webb is able to look further back in time and has a larger light collection area than Hubble.
Webb is already years late when he left Earth for space. He will go back almost to the beginning, the time that the first galaxies and stars formed.
NASA would rather think of James Webb a successor than Hubble, since the two will be working together for quite some time.
Named after James E. Webb (American government official, who served as NASA administrator from 1961 through 1968) and was an integral part of the Apollo program.
NASA’s decision to name the device after him was a controversial one – he has been accused of homophobia since his passing in 1992 due to his role in the 1963 firing of a gay NASA employee.