Consider the following statements about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST):
1. It observes in the near-infrared and mid-infrared spectrum.
2. It is positioned at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point L2.
3. It carries a coronagraph for exoplanet detection.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 4 i.e. All 1, 2 and 3.
Launched on December 25, 2021, James Webb Space Telescope features a 6.5-meter gold-coated primary mirror.
All three statements are technically accurate:
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Statement 1: Unlike Hubble, which focuses on visible light, JWST is optimized for infrared (0.6 to 28.5 microns) to peer through cosmic dust.
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Statement 2: It orbits the Lagrange Point 2 (L2), roughly 1.5 million km from Earth, keeping the Sun, Earth, and Moon behind its sunshield.
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Statement 3: Its instruments (like NIRCam and MIRI) use coronagraphs to block starlight, allowing it to image faint nearby exoplanets.