James Webb Space Telescope's optical alignment "perfect," NASA says

Source: CBS News

James Webb Space Telescope's optical alignment "perfect," NASA says

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
MAY 9, 2022 / 3:34 PM / CBS NEWS

Four-and-a-half months after the James Webb Space Telescope's Christmas Day launch, engineers have achieved near-perfect alignment of its complex optical system, setting the stage for final instrument calibrations and the release of the first showcase science images in July, officials said Monday.

"I'm delighted to report that the telescope alignment has been completed with performance even better than we had anticipated," said Michael McElwain, Webb project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

"We basically reached a perfect telescope alignment. There's no adjustment to the telescope optics that would make material improvements to our science performance."

On April 18, test images were released showing razor-sharp stars and Monday, a fresh image was unveiled showing two views of a star field in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. One image was shot by the much smaller, now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the other by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-webb-space-telescope-optical-alignment-perfect-nasa-says/


Two images of the same star field in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The photo on the left is from NASA's now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope while the one on the right is from the James Webb Space Telescope. Spitzer, equipped with a single 3-foot-wide primary mirror, was the largest infrared telescope launched prior to Webb. For comparison, Webb's segmented mirror measures 21.5-feet across. (NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI)