![]() ![]() It will allow astronomers to look not only farther out in space but also further back in time: It will search for the first stars and galaxies of the universe. The Webb will surpass the Hubble in several ways. “And yeah, we’re excited to see what’s there.” “We’re going right up to the edge of the observable universe with Webb,” says Caitlin Casey, an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. But the wait will be worth it, at least according to the scientists who expect new and revealing glimpses of our universe. Its price tag ballooned to $10 billion, and it’s way overdue. The Webb was originally supposed to launch in 2010 and cost around $1 billion. After more than three decades in space, it’s unclear how much longer this boundary-breaking satellite will be able to scan and photograph the universe. Scientists started thinking about a follow-up even before the Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990. “We’ve been waiting for this a very long time.” “The Webb represents the culmination of decades, if not centuries, of astronomy,” says Sara Seager, a planetary scientist and astrophysicist at MIT. Accor d ing to NASA, more than 300 potential technical problems, or “single point failures,” could potentially doom the mission.īut when it fully deploys in space, the Webb will usher in a new age of astronomy, scientists say, and show humanity things it has never seen before. Over the course of several weeks, it needs to unfurl its various components, from its sunshield to its mirrors. The telescope is so large it needed to launch folded up inside a rocket. On its journey, the telescope has to complete a difficult mechanical maneuver: assembling itself. Now the telescope is on its way to a point nearly a million miles away from the Earth. On Christmas, NASA launched the Webb from French Guiana in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. These are not the plot of a new science fiction movie, but the mission objectives of the James Webb Space Telescope, the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Understanding the origins of the universe. I have never had so much fun observing as I have since the POD was installed.Exploring strange new worlds. The total amount of time to open and close the observatory is 5 minutes before and after an observing run. I have a fully remote set-up in that I control my telescope and cameras from indoors, winter and summer. In the roughly 18 months I have had my POD with two bays I have done more observing than I accomplished in over a decade! My equipment is protected from the elements and always set up. I set the telescope pier about 18 inches in front of the zenith of the dome – that gives me clear visibility directly overhead. I have this mostly done now and will refine it a bit further. My POD is installed on a concrete base so I needed to make sure it was sealed to keep out rain. Assembly is a piece of cake! Watch the video and keep it handy on a PC as you build your observatory, and have one other person to help you in getting the dome segments installed. I want to give you a summary of my experience. Thank you for an outstanding, quality product! I purchased my SkyShedPOD a little over a year ago and now feel qualified to give feedback. ![]()
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