Rejoice! The Webb Telescope Has Released Yet Another Selfie

In the case of this social media-famous spacecraft, taking selfies is one of the things that will happen when the James Webb Telescope is aligned and ready for action.

After releasing the telescope's first fully-aligned photo of a star, NASA also dropped aselfie in such perfect focus.

Peaking

Unlike most selfies, this one wasn't taken for the sake of looking good. As the NIRCam instrument works on aligning itself to produce the kind of high resolution shots it will be known for going forward, it also takes inward-facing photos to make sure all 18 of its hexagonal mirrors are in the right place. The result is this kind of self-portrait, highlighting the telescope's now-iconic mirror array.

Compare this to the first selfie of the man, which was released on February 11. Huge difference, right?

Bonus image! When it’s time to focus, sometimes you need to take a good look at yourself.

This “selfie” taken by Webb of its primary mirror was not captured by an externally mounted engineering camera, but with a special lens within its NIRCam instrument. #UnfoldTheUniverse pic.twitter.com/XtzCdktrCA

— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) February 11, 2022

The result of the month-long process of aligning each of the telescope's 18 mirrors was the stunning star photo that accompanied it.

This is what we call aglow-up in social media.

There are more space selfies.

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