Hello out there, @NASAWebb! 👋
Today, Webb entered its orbit around Lagrange point 2, or L2. That’s about a million miles away, and a whole lot farther than Hubble’s low-Earth orbit at just about 340 miles (547 km) up. Why do these two telescopes have such different orbits? ⬇️
🌡️ Infrared light = heat
To capture faint infrared wavelengths of light, Webb needs to be colder than Hubble. Detecting heat from faraway objects means Webb has to shield itself from the Sun, Earth, & Moon's infrared radiation – so it needs to be a lot farther out than Hubble!
🌎 Hubble orbits just above Earth’s murky atmosphere.
🌎 ☀️ Webb orbits the Sun with Earth. From its perspective, the Sun, Earth, and Moon will always be in the same part of the sky, allowing its enormous sunshield to block their light and keep the telescope cool.
🧲 Webb also won't have to deal with the South Atlantic Anomaly, a dent in Earth's magnetic field that Hubble passes through about 15% of the time. The anomaly collects charged particles from the Sun that can disrupt communications, and can cause problems with electrical systems.
Webb and Hubble have different abilities, which means they also have different orbits! It’s just another way the two telescopes’ complementary abilities will help us put together a broader understanding of our universe.
Read more about Hubble and Webb: go.nasa.gov/3qYGzvq
And while you’re here, you should check out our orbiting Hubble interactive to learn more about the spacecraft!
Explore here: go.nasa.gov/3fVGEJI
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