Webb, being the farthest seeing telescope yet, can root out the youngest looking galaxies humanity can observe. The further into space scientists can look, the further back in time they can observe a galaxy. That means when we look at Canis Major Dwarf, we’re seeing it as it was 25,000 years ago. For example, the closest galaxy to ours is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy which is 25,000 light-years away, so its light takes 25,000 years to reach Earth. Its distance in light years translates to the number of years it takes for its light to arrive to Earth. When we look at a distant galaxy light years away, we aren’t seeing it in its most recent state. Eisenstein will use Webb’s cameras to “time-travel” back to when the earliest galaxies were forming right after the Big Bang. “One of the big purposes of telescopes is actually as time machines, because distance is look-back time,” says Daniel Eisenstein, an astrophysicist at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The Rubin Galaxy, named after the astronomer Vera Rubin, twirls in space 232 million light years away from Earth. Understand how early galaxies formed and grew Partially thanks to Webb’s size and infrared gaze, here are five things the telescope will allow astronomers to do. “Anytime astronomers get a new telescope, it's a kid in a candy store kind of thing,” says Smith. Its closest challenger, Hubble, works primarily in the visible and has a limited infrared-viewing range. It will be the only infrared-specialized telescope in space that can see long distances. Secondly, Webb views the universe in the infrared-the zone on the electromagnetic spectrum with slightly longer wavelengths than visible light. First, it’s big, with a 21.3-foot primary mirror that will make Webb the furthest-seeing telescope humankind has ever built. This latest space-bound contraption is unique because of two capabilities. it's the whole force of human creativity and all kinds of disciplines that push it there." The new observatory, which is slated to launch from northern French Guiana near the equator, is a joint collaboration between the space agencies of the United States, Europe and Canada. There’s really no telescope like Webb so far, he says. But Webb picks up where its predecessor falls short, says Eric Smith, Webb’s program scientist and chief scientist of NASA’s Astrophysics Division. Webb’s conception is inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope-the 31-year-old observatory famous for capturing stunning photos of our universe's galaxies. Lawmakers and scientists both have expressed concern that the project is siphoning funds from other research areas, but many other scientists say that Webb is worth the money and the wait. The telescope’s takeoff has now been delayed a decade, and its cost has risen roughly $9 billion over budget. After several holdups this year, NASA is set to launch the craft on Christmas. The James Webb Space Telescope, the much anticipated, revolutionary newcomer to the pantheon of space telescopes, is finally set to make a big splash-a welcome change from the waves its oft-delayed launch and ballooning cost have made.
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