NASA/ESA/CSA · space telescope active
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest space observatory, studying the early universe and exoplanets in infrared light.
- Launch
- 25 December 2021
- Distance from Earth today
- 1.61 million km0.011 AU · light: 5.4 s
- Distance from the Sun today
- 149.8 million km1.002 AU
Live distance from Earth and chart →
Trajectory
Trajectory: JPL Horizons vectors (spacecraft -170) every 3 days, projected onto the ecliptic; compressed distance scale.
Mission timeline
- Launch on an Ariane 5 from Kourou
- Final course burn into orbit around the Sun–Earth L2 point
- First full-colour science images released
About the mission
Webb, built by NASA with the European and Canadian space agencies, observes in infrared light, which lets it see the first galaxies, whose light has been stretched by the expansion of the universe, and peer through dust into regions where stars and planets form. Its 6.5-metre gold-coated mirror of 18 segments and its tennis-court-sized sunshield had to unfold in space after launch. It works about 1.5 million km from Earth, in a halo orbit around the L2 point, where the Sun, Earth and Moon all stay on one side of the shield and the instruments can stay extremely cold.