Updated October 22, 2024
A collection of videos about James Webb Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope explained
3:56Launched by NASA in 2021, images from the 14,000-pound Webb Space Telescope have transformed theories of star formation, black holes, and more—while revealing jaw-dropping shots of the cosmos and inspiring a new generation of space fans. Curious about NASA's James Webb Space Telescope? 1440 provides a breakdown of how it works.
Relevant articles, podcasts, videos, and more from around the internet — curated and summarized by our team
Like the Hubble Telescope, the Webb travels through space in a stable orbit; unlike Hubble, it isn't orbiting around Earth. In fact, the Webb is orbiting around the sun, but in a way that allows it to always be in line with the Earth. While difficult to conceptualize, this visualization shows both the real-time position of the telescope and traces its orbital trajectory relative to our planet.
Humankind's imagination has long been captured by space, what lies beyond our solar system, and what its nature is. At the same time, the sheer enormity of the universe escapes our ability to conceive of its scale. This interactive provides an intuitive sense of how small we are, from a single astronaut to the Milky Way and beyond.
NASA Webb Telescope
While the James Webb Telescope collects an astounding amount of scientific data, a major part of its allure is its ability to return stunning, high-resolution images, from nearby stars to the oldest structures in the universe. Explore the full gallery of Webb images, with shots that have captured the American public’s imagination and lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of the cosmos.
Astronomical advances have both captured humanity’s fascination for millennia, from Copernicus to Edwin Hubble, while raising fundamental—and sometimes unsettling—questions about our place in the universe. With its ability to gaze back to the beginning of the universe, the James Webb is likely to reshape our beliefs about our own world and possibly even ourselves.
While the Italian polymath Galileo Galilei did not patent the first telescope—that was Hans Lipperhey, who patented it as a spyglass—Galileo was the first to rigorously study the skies with one, enabling him to discover Jupiter's four moons. His discoveries challenged established views and revolutionized science. Learn how the telescope upended humanity's view of itself and challenged conventions in 16th-century Italy.
CEERS Survey
Discovered by the Webb Telescope in 2022, Maise’s Galaxy (named after the nine-year-old daughter of the scientist who discovered it) was found as part of a survey of a section of the universe known as the Extended Growth Strip, home to thousands of galaxies. This video takes you from Earth to Maise’s galaxy, formed roughly 300 million years after the birth of the universe.
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1440 Daily Digest
Launched by NASA in 2021, images from the 14,000-pound Webb Space Telescope have transformed theories of star formation, black holes, and more—while revealing jaw-dropping shots of the cosmos and inspiring a new generation of space fans. Curious about NASA's James Webb Space Telescope? 1440 provides a breakdown of how it works.
IEEE Spectrum
Since its located 1 million miles from Earth, the Webb space observatory has to be able to repair itself—no Space Shuttles can be dispatched with astronaut engineers to repair it. That's why over two decades teams reiterated, cross-checked, and hyper-optimized the Webb's observing surface. Their efforts produced the world's largest space-based optical surface that is peering billions of years back in time. Learn the wild engineering of the telescope here.
While the Italian polymath Galileo Galilei did not patent the first telescope—that was Hans Lipperhey, who patented it as a spyglass—Galileo was the first to rigorously study the skies with one, enabling him to discover Jupiter's four moons. His discoveries challenged established views and revolutionized science. Learn how the telescope upended humanity's view of itself and challenged conventions in 16th-century Italy.
The highly popular images produced by the James Webb Space Telescope are an artful collaboration between data science and visual designers. The raw data reflects real physical aspects of space, but it arrives without visual representation. Visual experts assign colors to specific wavelengths, crop and orient images in an accessible way, and consider the emotional impact of images as they incorporate design principles into the final product. Learn the fascinating details here.
James Webb ran the upstart National Aeronautics and Space Agency between 1961 and 1968, a crucial time in US efforts to reach space, the moon, and beyond. Known for his aim to balance space exploration with the potential to develop new scientific discoveries, NASA opted in 1996 to rename the "Next Generation Space Telescope" after Webb. Learn more here.
Lagrange points are places in a solar system where the gravitational pulls of two larger masses create a stable equilibrium, allowing another object—like an asteroid or a space telescope—to orbit with minimal energy. The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, orbits the sun roughly 1 million miles from Earth at Lagrange point 2, where the pull of the sun and the Earth create a balanced pocket for it to remain fairly stable in one place. Learn more from a NASA scientist here.