The James Webb Space Telescope has sent back its clearest image yet

Summary

This article by Leah Crane, writing for New Scientist, makes the following points:

• The telescope’s operators say the JWST will be able to meet, or even exceed, expectations.
• JWST peers into the cosmos with the help of 18 gold-plated hexagonal mirrors. 
• These mirrors must be aligned with extraordinary precision for the telescope to work properly.
• The first images, sent back in February, were blurry because the mirrors weren’t correctly aligned. Following the adjustments, however, the images are now crystal clear.
• Once JWST begins taking science images, it should help unravel some of the universe’s biggest mysteries—from exoplanet habitability to dark energy.

References

Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:

• James Webb space telescope takes up station a million miles from Earth | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)

References from the Web:

• MAR 2022 James Webb Space Telescope: everything you need to know about the Hubble successor—BBC Science Focus  
• MAR 2022 The James Webb Space Telescope has taken its first aligned image of a star. Here’s how it was done—The Conversation  

Source Information:

• Article Source: New Scientist
• Media Check: New Scientist - Media Bias Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)
• LEARNING OUTCOMES—RUNWAY | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)