News at a glance: Webb telescope looking sharp, Omicron’s burden, and statues of female scientists | Science
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on March 24, 2022
ASTRONOMY
In stellar test, Webb space telescope shows pin-sharp vision
A crisp image of a bright star shows the James Webb Space Telescope’s complex, segmented mirror is functioning flawlessly, NASA announced last week. After launching the $10 billion Webb in December 2021, engineers have spent weeks delicately tweaking the position and curvature of each of the mirror’s 18 segments (which had been folded up during launch) until they behaved as a single, 6.5-meter reflector. Operators tested the mirror by using Webb’s Near Infrared Camera to observe a star in the Ursa Major constellation . . .
