This early Webb alignment image, with dots of starlight arranged in a pattern similar to the honeycomb shape of the primary mirror, is called an “image array.” Credit: NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale
The telescope team is making progress in aligning the mirrors. Engineers have completed the first stage of the process, calledSegment Image Identification, which shows that the team has moved each of the 18 primary mirror segments to bring 18 unfocused copies of a single star into a planned hexagonal formation.
The team has begun the second phase of alignment, which will correct positioning errors of the mirror segments and update the alignment of the secondary mirror. The team will begin the third phase, called "Image Stacking", when the global alignment is complete.
Matthew Lallo is a systems scientist and Telescopes Branch manager at the Space Telescope Science Institute. We can now watch the mirror slowly form into its intended shape.
This image mosaic (top), which shows 18 randomly positioned copies of the same star, served as the starting point for the alignment process. To complete the first stage of alignment, the team moved the primary mirror segments to arrange the dots of starlight into a hexagonal image array (bottom). Each dot of starlight is labeled with the corresponding mirror segment that captured it. Credit: NASA (top); NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale (bottom)
Credit: NASA
This image mosaic (top), which shows 18 randomly positioned copies of the same star, served as the starting point for the alignment process. To complete the first stage of alignment, the team moved the primary mirror segments to arrange the dots of starlight into a hexagonal image array (bottom). Each dot of starlight is labeled with the corresponding mirror segment that captured it. Credit: NASA (top); NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale (bottom)
Credit: NASA
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