James Webb Space Telescope: Hubble’s Successor

James Webb is a infrared space telescope currently under design and construction. The telescope launch is expected to take place some time during or after 2014. It is a part of the next generation of telescopes that will take the place of  famous Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb Telescope is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

This new telescope will study the full history of our universe: since the Big Bang until the formation of Solar System. It have four main objectives: study the first bright objects in the universe; find out how exactly the galaxies were formed; discover more about the birth and development of stars and planets; and study the physical and chemical properties of solar systems (including our own) with the hopes of finding the origins of life.

There are some similarities between Hubble and Webb – both are (or will be) are designed to improve our knowledge about stars and galaxies – but there is a big difference between the two: Webb will explore the universe mainly in the infra-red frequency range, while Hubble ‘sees’ the optical (visible) and ultra-violet range.

Webb take around 3 months after launch to take up its position in orbit and begin observations. It will orbit around 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.

With this new tool, astronomers hope to shed light on some of the questions about the universe the answers to which currently remain illusive.

You can read more about Webb here.