Sage-Tips

How much better is the James Webb from the Hubble?

Webb will have significantly larger field of view than the NICMOS camera on Hubble (covering more than ~15 times the area) and significantly better spatial resolution than is available with the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope.

What is the angular resolution of the James Webb Telescope?

0.07 arcsec
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is an infrared-optimized observatory with a 6.5m-diameter segmented primary mirror and instrumentation that provides wavelength coverage of 0.6 to 28.5 microns, sensitivity 10X to 100X greater than previous or current facilities, and high angular resolution (0.07 arcsec at 2 …

What is the angular resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope?

about 0.04 arc seconds
In visible light (at wavelengths near 500 nm) the combination of the Hubble telescope plus its highest resolution cameras achieve an angular resolution of about 0.04 arc seconds.

What advantage will the James Webb Space Telescope have over the Hubble Space Telescope in studying star formation?

Webb will view more energetic phenomena including forming proto-stars and very distant galaxies. Getting data with both telescopes on the same objects will build a more complete picture of the astrophysical processes.

What kind of instruments will Webb have?

What kind of instruments will Webb have? The James Webb Space Telescope includes four scientific instruments: the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), and the Fine Guidance Sensor/ Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS-NIRISS).

What are the main science goals of Webb?

JWST. Objectives: JWST’s primary aim is to shed light on our cosmic origins: it will observe the Universe’s first galaxies, reveal the birth of stars and planets, and look for exoplanets with the potential for life.

What telescope has the best angular resolution?

The Hubble Space Telescope
Answer: The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has a highest resolution of about 0.03 arcseconds, while the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) makes images with a resolution smaller than 0.001 arcsec. So, the VLBA has the HST beat when it comes to picture resolution.

Is a higher angular resolution better?

“higher” resolution doesn’t mean better, it means only bigger objects can be resolved; but we want to be able to resolve small objects, such as the angular distance between a pair of double stars. So small is better in this situation.

How much better will the James Webb Space Telescope be?

With a mirror almost three times wider, JWST will be able to see objects almost nine times fainter than Hubble, allowing us to peer even further into space.

What is the difference between Hubble and Webb Space Telescope?

Webb will primarily look at the Universe in the infrared, while Hubble studies it primarily at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths (though it has some infrared capability). Webb also has a much bigger mirror than Hubble.

How sharp will Webb’s vision be?

Webb’s angular resolution, or sharpness of vision, will be the same as Hubble’s, but in the near infrared. This means that Webb images will appear just as sharp as Hubble’s do. Webb will have an angular resolution of somewhat better than 0.1 arc-seconds at a wavelength of 2 micrometers (one degree = 60 arc-minutes = 3600 arc-seconds).

What is the replacement for the Hubble telescope?

Webb often gets called the replacement for Hubble, but we prefer to call it a successor. Hubble’s science pushed us to look to longer wavelengths to “go beyond” what Hubble has already done. Comparison of the Carina Nebula in visible light (left) and infrared (right), both images by Hubble.

How far away is the Earth from the Hubble Space Telescope?

The Earth is 150 million km from the Sun and the moon orbits the earth at a distance of approximately 384,500 km. The Hubble Space Telescope orbits around the Earth at an altitude of ~570 km above it. Webb will not actually orbit the Earth – instead it will sit at the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point, 1.5 million km away!