They want to launch the James Webb Space Telescope on December 18. Before that, the start was repeatedly postponed-including due to the coronavirus pandemic.
James Webb will launch on December 18. This was reported by the European Space Agency. The launch will be carried out using a single — use Ariane 5 heavy-class rocket. The launch site is the Kourou cosmodrome in Guiana.
The James Webb Space Telescope is an orbiting infrared observatory, which in the" ideological " sense is seen as the successor to Hubble, launched in 1990. The new observatory has incomparably great opportunities.
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The program faces several key tasks. With the help of James Webb, scientists are investigating the formation and development of the first stars, planetary systems and galaxies, which will bring us closer to understanding the origin of life. Another important area is related to the study of exoplanets, as well as their satellites.
The project itself can be called a long-term construction without exaggeration. The idea to create a new powerful space telescope was announced in the second half of the 90s, when American astronomers released the report HST and Beyond. Until 2002, the device was called the Next Generation Space Telescope, or NGST. Initially, they wanted to launch it in 2007, but then numerous postponements followed.
Hubble mirror (left) and James Webb mirror (right) in the same scale
Image source: ESA
Engineers installed the first segment of the mirror on James Webb at the end of 2015. The entire main composite mirror was assembled in February 2016. After eliminating a series of problems, including those related to the pandemic, the launch was scheduled for October this year. However, in June it became known that the launch would have to be postponed again, as it was necessary to check the Ariane 5 head fairing separation system.
Earlier, we recall, it became known about the discovery of a supernova flare at a distance of about 500 million light-years, which was caused by the merger of a dead star with a massive neighbor. It is estimated that the first star dropped more than one solar mass, then this cloud was "caught up" by a wave of a supernova explosion, creating radiation in the optical and radio ranges.
In addition, the attention of astronomers has recently been attracted by a mysterious source of radio waves located near the center of the Galaxy. Studies have shown that the ASKAP J173608. 2-321635 object flashes and goes out unpredictably in the radio range — and, unlike all known sources, does not emit any other waves.