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The James Webb Space Telescope

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For everyone

Launched on 25 December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope observes in infrared light and can see the universe's first galaxies. In May 2025 the galaxy MoM-z14 was found, seen only about 280 million years after the Big Bang, the most distant galaxy known. The telescope also studies exoplanet atmospheres.

For specialists

The telescope has a 6.5 m gold-coated beryllium mirror of 18 hexagonal segments, is located at the Sun–Earth L2 point and operates at about 40 K thanks to a five-layer sunshield. MoM-z14's redshift was measured at z = 14.44 from a sharp Lyman-α break in its NIRSpec spectrum. Finding galaxies brighter than expected so early challenges models of galaxy formation.

Claims

Luminous galaxies existed about 280 million years after the Big Bang.^[2]

Evidence

Supporting

Observation

A Lyman-α break and five rest-frame ultraviolet emission lines were detected in MoM-z14's spectrum.^[2]

Challenging

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Positions

The JWST team: The telescope was designed to study the first galaxies, star and planet formation and exoplanet atmospheres.^[1]

Connections

Parent

Space exploration

The beginning of the universe and the Big Bang The claimed biosignature on K2-18 b

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Sources

ArticleGardner, J. P. et al. (2023). The James Webb Space Telescope mission. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 135, 068001DOI 10.1088/1538-3873/acd1b5 archive
ArticleNaidu, R. P. et al. (2025). A cosmic miracle: a remarkably luminous galaxy at z_spec = 14.44 confirmed with JWST. The Open Journal of AstrophysicsarXiv:2505.11263 archive

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Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). The James Webb Space Telescope. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/jwst/

BibTeX

@misc{athena_jwst,
  title        = {The James Webb Space Telescope},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/jwst/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history

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