ESA’s spectrometer ready for James Webb telescope
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027325
BBC : One of four specialized instruments to fly aboard the James Webb Space Telescope has been completed and is being shipped to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Commissioned by the European Space Agency, the Near IR Spectrograph (NIRSpec ) is designed to observe up to 100 objects simultaneously in a waveband that spans 0.6 to 5 μm. By analyzing spectra obtained by NIRSpec, astronomers hope to determine the chemical composition, mass, temperature, and other physical properties of distant galaxies whose starlight has been redshifted into the near IR. Although JWST suffered problems that include cost overruns and delays, it is expected to have at least as large an impact on science as did its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. JWST is scheduled to launch in 2018.
