Large Canvas Wraps - Space: James Webb

A collaborative project of the American (NASA), European (ESA) and Canadian (CSA) Space Agencies, the James Webb Telescope (A.K.A. JWST or Webb), launched December 25th, 2021 at the the French Guiana Spaceport in South America, has finally sent its first images back from its maiden voyage. This marvel of engineering and gateway to space exploration has had a great impact on the history of the world, leading the way to great scientific discoveries.

The NASA-sponsored telescope’s mission is to find the galaxies that formed early in the history of the universe, and to see other planetary systems being formed by stars, building upon what the Hubble Space telescope has already discovered. The concept for the creation of this giant observatory (formally known as “the Next Space Generation Telescope” (NSGT) until re-named after former NASA Administer James Webb) began in September of 1989 at the Next Generation Space Telescope Workshop. Official construction of the telescope began in the year 2004, almost 15 years later. This enormous telescope is three times bigger than the Hubble telescope with a sunshield length of 22 meters. It has also gone much farther from Earth than any other spacecraft ever has, making it possible to take clearer and even more detailed infrared photos of the great unknown. The JWST’s use of an infrared camera is another distinguishing factor. The infrared cameras pierce through the dust cloud that obscures stars, as well as allowing light to be captured in its fullest glory, above and beyond what the human eyes can see.

This marvel of modern science and engineering also features incredible innovations such as lightweight optics, a deployable sunshield, a folding segmented mirror in the shape of hexagons, improved detectors, cryogenic actuators for the cold temperature of space, mirror control, and micro-shutters for infrared light. The iconic gold covered mirrors are for greater reflection of the infrared wavelengths, being a highly reflective material and relatively unreactive to the elements that space may introduce.

The JWST arrived at its final destination, L2, on January 24th, 2022, now orbiting around the sun nearly 1 million miles from earth. This prime location enables the telescope a wide view of the cosmos, which can be seen in the first image sent back to Earth, revealed on July 11th, 2022. Nicknamed “Webb’s First Deep Field”, this first image was of a galaxy cluster of thousands of galaxies: SMACS 0723. Other images that were revealed a couple days later were of the Carina Nebula, Stephan's Quintet, the Southern Ring Nebula, and WASP-96 b. Each provides clues as to the formation and destruction of stars through the incredibly detailed images of the dust and gas that surround these stars.

These spectacular images of formations in space can help humankind uncover the secrets of the universe for years to come, and generations into the future will remember this landmark event. Canvas Prints are available here at WhiteClouds of these never-before-seen images of the universe (as well as the telescope itself), which can be used to adorn your space, instilling a sense of adventure and discovery.