SYLLABUS SECTION: GS III (SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)

WHY IN THE NEWS NASA TELESCOPE?

Recently, NASA has unveiled images captured from the James Webb Space Telescope.

James Webb Space Telescope:

• It is the largest and most powerful orbital observatory ever launched. It will offer scientists the opportunity to observe galaxy evolution, the formation of stars and planets and exoplanetary systems.
• Webb is the successor of the Hubble telescope.
• Launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 1.4 million observations, including tracking interstellar objects, capturing a comet colliding with Jupiter, and discovering moons around Pluto.
• Hubble has captured galaxies merging, probed supermassive black holes and has helped us understand the history of our universe.
• It is an infrared spectrum-based telescope.
• It is the result of an international collaborationbetween NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
• It’s a NASA-built space telescope that also includes contributions from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Read more: UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS