Since the James Webb Space Telescope’s launch in December last year, engineers have been working to position the telescope’s hardware, then align its reflectors and equipment.
Now the months-long process has been completed and the telescope has been verified to be fully aligned. NASA and the European Space Agency have shared an image showing the sharpness check of all of Webb’s instruments, revealing that they are all clear and properly focused.
James Webb Space Telescope is ready for action!
The telescope, where all the alignments have been made and clear images have begun to be taken, will begin its duties after the final checks. The James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph/Fine Guidance Sensor (NIRISS/FGS) equipment will undergo final testing.
Following recent work on the telescope, the European Space Agency has issued a statement:
Engineering images of focused stars in each instrument’s field of view show the telescope fully aligned and in focus . For this test, Webb focused on a portion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, providing a dense field of hundreds of thousands of stars to the entire observatory’s sensors. The sizes and positions of the images shown here show the relative arrangement of each of Webb’s instruments in the telescope’s focal plane, each pointing to a section of the sky slightly offset from each other.
Control of four different devices was done by directing each of them to the same targets. It was announced that the results were even better than the engineers had hoped. While it was stated that a high degree of image quality was provided, it was emphasized that the telescope captured the maximum amount of detail possible for the image size.
Final checks in progress!
After the alignments are complete, the team will now start checking each device in turn. This process consists of configuring and checking parts such as masks and filters to make sure the devices are ready for science operations. Some necessary final telescope calibration will also be done, such as checking that the telescope remains at a constant temperature as it moves from one target to the next. Once all this is done, the telescope is scheduled to begin science operations this summer.
We expect to see much more impressive images in the coming days. So what do you think about the James Webb Space Telescope? You can share your views with us in the comments section or on the SDN Forum.
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