The solar system is ready for its close up, and the James Webb Space Telescope is ready to deliver.
A new NASA news update published Friday included 18 separate images of the same star captured by the Webb and its 18 mirror segments. The shots are unfocused but brought the copies into a hexagonal formation that will help focus the images further.
NASA's official account confirmed the mission was a success.
Last week, 18 spots helped confirm that each of the mirror segments can see starlight.
The second phase of the telescope's image array has begun, according to a post by NASA.
Matthew Lallo, systems scientist and Telescopes Branch manager at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said in the update that segment dots are steered into the array so that they have the same relative locations as the physical mirrors. We can now watch the mirror slowly form into its intended shape.
NASA's team pointed a fine sensor at the star one day before the images were released, according to a previous news update on the organization's website. The first photons were captured by the telescope's mirrors in February.
It is fascinating to see how fast the information is being sent back to Earth. The telescope is set to be operational by this summer and the pictures are not really impressive. We will keep our eyes peeled for as many updates as NASA gives, so we can witness space exploration and history in real time.
More on the history-making of the James Webb Space Telescope.
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