Its mirror is composed of 18 individual segments that have been aligned so accurately, that they effectively work as a single giant (21.6-foot, or 6.5-meter) reflector. Phys.org.

The Webb's primary mirror is composed of 18 individual segments, and, as of today's update, all of those segments are aligned so that a single star shows up as a single object.

Once that is done, all the light is in one place, but the segments of the mirror still need to be further adjusted to act as one large mirror rather than 18 smaller mirrors.

The mirror segments are now cool enough, at below 55 kelvins, that they won’t prevent MIRI from taking science readings. However, the team hopes that they will cool further, ...

NASA recently completed the third of seven planned steps to align the 18 hexagonal segments of Webb's mirror, marking nearly the halfway point in a complex, weeks-long process.

James Webb Space Telescope to study far reaches of Milky Way 05:01. A high-speed dust-size micrometeoroid slammed into one of the James Webb Space Telescope's 18 primary mirror segments last month ...

The James Webb Space Telescope finished deploying all 18 of its mirror segments Wednesday, leaving one last task before it takes up its deep space post. Menu. Ready.

The first six hexagonal segments for the main mirror of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) have been successfully cast by the German company SCHOTT at their facility in Mainz. These segments ...

The mirror powering NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2021, will be the largest one ever sent to space – and it’s coated in pure gold.

The $10 billion telescope aligned its mirror segments to create a 21. 3 foot-wide mirror, the largest ever launched. After the segments were aligned, ...

Schott will eventually manufacture 931 mirrors for the ELT, including 133 spare mirror segments. To make the mirrors, liquid glass is heated to over 1,400 degrees Celsius and poured into molds, ...