It seems that the process of unfolding of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is coming to a close.
NASA has reported that as soon as next week, JWST is due to arrive at its destination, known as the second Lagrange Point (L2), from which the world’s biggest telescope will begin its in-depth observation of the distant universe.
JWST’s installation at L2, which is 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth, is slated to begin on 25 January, when NASA scientists will fire the telescope’s thrusters to put it in orbit.
Lagrange points, named after the Italian-born mathematician and astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange, are places in the universe where the gravitational forces of two massive objects, such as the Sun and the Earth, are in equilibrium.
NASA earlier explained that thanks to stable gravitation in these locations, JWST will be capable of staying aligned to the Earth as it moves around the Sun.
One more reason to pick L2 for JWST is that the telescope and its instruments will remain in shade as the Sun, the Earth and the Moon will always be on one side, something that is expected to simplify the telescope’s mission to detect faint heat signals in the universe, according to the US space agency.
JSWT, which is 100 times more powerful than its predecessor Hubble, is a joint venture by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency. Scientists hope that with the help of JSWT, they will be able to "travel back in time" and search for the first stars that appeared after the Big Bang.