James Webb Space Telescope

Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the history of our Universe.

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A montage of the Webb Space Telescope over a composited background of stars and galaxies.

Webb studies every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System. Webb launched on Dec. 25th 2021. It does not orbit around the Earth like the Hubble Space Telescope, it orbits the Sun 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2. 

Mission Type

Astrophysics

Partners

NASA/ESA/CSA

Launch

Dec 25, 2021

Arrival at L2

Jan 24, 2022

Key Facts

Fact Sheet
This image is from Webb’s NIRCam instrument, which saw this nebula in the near-infrared.

Premiere Telescope of Next Decade

extending the tantalizing discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Engineers Prep James Webb Telescope for Integration

Folding Design

So big it has to fold origami-style to fit in the rocket and will unfold like a “Transformer” in space.

Webb Lagrange Points

1.5 Million km

Webb orbits the Sun 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth. (Hubble orbits 560 kilometers above the Earth.)

NASA’s Webb Sunshield Successfully Unfolds and Tensions in Final Tests

SPF 1 Million

Webb has a 5-layer sunshield that protects the telescope from the infrared radiation of the Sun, Earth, and Moon; like having sun protection of SPF 1 million.

The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago

Unprecedented Sensitivity

iIt will peer back in time over 13.5 billion years to see the first galaxies born after the Big Bang.in the ISS.

NASA’s Webb Probes an Extreme Starburst Galaxy

A team of astronomers has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82). Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this galaxy is relatively compact in size but hosts a frenzy of star formation activity. For comparison, M82 is sprouting new stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy.

Left: Messier 82 as imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hour-glass-shaped red plumes of gas are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue, disk-shaped center of a galaxy. This galaxy is surrounded by many white stars and set against the black background of space. A small square highlights the section that the image on the right shows in greater detail. White text at bottom reads "Hubble." Right: A section of Messier 82 as imaged by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. An edge-on spiral starburst galaxy with a bright white, glowing core set against the black background of space. A white band of the edge-on disk extends from lower left to upper right. Dark brown tendrils of dust are scattered thinly along this band. Many white points in various sizes – stars or star clusters – are scattered throughout the image, but are most heavily concentrated toward the center. Many clumpy, red filaments extend vertically above and below the galaxy’s plane. White text at bottom reads "Webb."
On the left is the starburst galaxy M82 as observed by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 2006. The small box at the galaxy’s core corresponds to the area captured so far by the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The red filaments as seen by Webb are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission, which traces the shape of the galactic wind. In the Hubble image, light at .814 microns is colored red, .658 microns is red-orange, .555 microns is green, and .435 microns is blue (filters F814W, F658N, F555W, and F435W, respectively). In the Webb image, light at 3.35 microns is colored red, 2.50 microns is green, and 1.64 microns is blue (filters F335M, F250M, and F164N, respectively).
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Bolatto (University of Maryland)
NEW - Webb Observation tracking TOOL

What is Webb Observing?

See current, upcoming and recent past observations scientists are making with the Webb Space Telescope. View details about each observation's science focus areas, the instruments used and more. 

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Two side-by-side images of the same region of space. Superimposed on each is a simple, white line drawing of a telescope. Left: Drawing of the Hubble Space Telescope on a Hubble image showing numerous stars and a hazy blue to brown cloud of gas and dust. Right: Drawing of the Webb Space Telescope on a Webb image showing numerous stars and a pinkish yellow to brown cloud of gas and dust. The Webb image shows a more filamentous and billowy structure. There is no clear boundary between the two images.

Latest News

Webb's latest news releases in reverse chronological order.

Left: Messier 82 as imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hour-glass-shaped red plumes of gas are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue, disk-shaped center of a galaxy. This galaxy is surrounded by many white stars and set against the black background of space. A small square highlights the section that the image on the right shows in greater detail. White text at bottom reads "Hubble." Right: A section of Messier 82 as imaged by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. An edge-on spiral starburst galaxy with a bright white, glowing core set against the black background of space. A white band of the edge-on disk extends from lower left to upper right. Dark brown tendrils of dust are scattered thinly along this band. Many white points in various sizes – stars or star clusters – are scattered throughout the image, but are most heavily concentrated toward the center. Many clumpy, red filaments extend vertically above and below the galaxy’s plane. White text at bottom reads "Webb."

NASA’s Webb Probes an Extreme Starburst Galaxy

Amid a site teeming with new and young stars lies an intricate substructure. A team of astronomers has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82). Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation…

Article2 weeks ago
Artist's concept shows the red-dwarf star, TRAPPIST-1, at the upper left, with two large dots on the face of the disk representing transiting planets; five more planets are shown at varying positions descending toward the lower right as they orbit the star. Artist's concept shows the TRAPPIST-1 planets as they might be seen from Earth using an extremely powerful – and fictional – telescope. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

That Starry Night Sky? It’s Full of Eclipses

Our star, the Sun, on occasion joins forces with the Moon to offer us Earthlings a spectacular solar eclipse – like the one that will be visible to parts of the United States, Mexico, and Canada on April 8. But…

Article2 weeks ago
An image of a region of a molecular cloud. The orange cloud is dense and bright close to the top of the image, like rolling clouds, and grows darker and more wispy toward the bottom and in the top corner. One bright star with six short diffraction spikes and several dimmer stars are visible as light spots among the clouds.

Cheers! NASA’s Webb Finds Ethanol, Other Icy Ingredients for Worlds

Editor’s Note: This article was updated March 13, 2024, to clarify the likelihood that chemicals found around IRAS 2A were present in the first stages of development of our solar system. What do margaritas, vinegar, and ant stings have in…

Article1 month ago

NASA’s Roman Team Selects Survey to Map Our Galaxy’s Far Side

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has announced plans for an unprecedented survey of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. It will peer deeper into this region than any other survey, mapping more of our galaxy’s stars than…

Article1 month ago
See Also: Webb's Blog


Latest 2024 Images

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Cas A - Chandra/Webb/Hubble/Spitzer composite
Featured Story

Webb Celebrates First Year of Science With Close-up on Birth of Sun-like Stars

From our cosmic backyard in the solar system to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, NASA’s James Webb Space…

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Red dual opposing jets coming from young stars fill the darker top half of the image, while a glowing pale-yellow, cave-like structure is bottom center, tilted toward two o’clock, with a bright star at its center. See extended description for more.
About

The Webb Mission

Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

Learn More
A Engineer looks over one of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments.
This is a photo of one of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments coated with gold by Quantum Coating Incorporated. It's NOT a flight segment, it's the engineering design unit. The photo was taken at BATC by Drew Noel.
Photo by Drew Noel
About

Webb's Science Goals

The James Webb Space Telescope is a giant leap forward in our quest to understand the Universe and our origins. Webb is examining every phase of cosmic history: from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our own solar system. Learn about the 4 main science themes for Webb.

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This image is from Webb’s NIRCam instrument, which saw this nebula in the near-infrared.
NASA’s Webb Captures Dying Star’s Final ‘Performance’ in Fine Detail
NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
About

The Spacecraft

The Webb Space Telescope is the largest, most powerful and most complex telescope ever launched into space . It's design and development history stretches back before the Hubble Space Telescope was launched.  Learn about the design, the major components and subsystems of Webb and see Webb in 3d in a 3d Solar System.

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Webb Spacecraft Rendering
About

The International Webb Team

Webb is for the world, and from the world. Thousands of skilled scientists, engineers and technicians from 14 countries (and more than  29 U.S. states, and Washington, D.C.) contributed to the design, build, test, integration, launch, commissioning and operations of Webb. It is a joint NASA/ESA/CSA mission. Assembly and testing of the mirror and instruments occurred at NASA Goddard (GSFC).

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A full disk view of the earth from GOES 16, GOES East on the vernal Equinox.
A full disk view of the earth from GOES 16, GOES East on the vernal Equinox.
NOAA/NASA