The critical mirror alignment steps have been completed.
There is an update for 5 p.m. NASA released a dazzling new image of a target star today, after it passed a major milestone in its mirror alignment process. You can see the photo here, as well as a view of the object seen by Europe.
The results from the experiment are better than expected, mission scientists said in a presentation today.
NASA will release new images from the James Webb Space Telescope and discuss the observatory's mirror alignment progress today and you can follow it live online.
A virtual press conference will be held by the space agency. The live broadcast will be on NASA TV, the NASA app and the NASA website. You will be able to watch the briefing on this page at start time, courtesy of NASA TV. The release of new imagery from Webb is anticipated to take place at 11:30 a.m. The sun rises at 1530 GMT.
NASA officials wrote in an announcement this week that participants will share progress made in aligning the mirrors, resulting in a fully focused image of a single star.
Mission updates: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope mission
Related: How the James Webb Space Telescope works in pictures
HD 84406 is a sun-like star about 260 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major that scientists have been using as they align the 18 hexagonal segments of the observatory's main mirror. The process of aligning is expected to take several months.
In order to make a single image of HD 84406, Webb has used its mirrors to take 18 individual images of the star.
Engineers have made smaller adjustments to the positions of the 18 primary mirror segments so they act as a single mirror. The images are not stunning or beautiful in the conventional sense, but they are a signal that the optics are working as planned.
The U.S. agency launched its latest space observatory mission on December 25. The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is called the Webb observatory and it is designed to peer farther into the universe than before. It reached a location about 1 million miles from Earth a few weeks after launch.
Some of the earliest stars and galaxies, as well as the atmospheres of alien planets and even the planets in our own solar system, will be able to be seen by the telescope.
NASA officials wrote in their statement that "Webb will explore every phase of Cosmic history from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe and everything in between."
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