ESA Science & Technology - The Scientific Capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope

Publication date: 15 November 2009

Authors: Gardner, J., et al. [2009]

Journal: JWST White Paper

The James Webb Space Telescope is a large (25 m²), cold (<50 K), infrared (IR)-optimized space observatory that will be launched during 2013. It is the successor to the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. The observatory has four instruments: a near-IR camera, a near-IR multi-object spectrograph, and a tunable filter imager will operate within the wavelength range, 0.6 < l < 5.0 microns, while the mid-IR instrument will provide both imaging and spectroscopy over the 5.0 < l < 28.5 microns spectrum.