| Manu | Date: Friday, 31-December-2021, 6:52 PM | Message # 1 |
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| Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
@BBCAmoson Twitter
A $10bn glittering space jewel recedes into the distance.
This is the moment the James Webb telescope came off the top of its rocket to begin its mission to image the first stars to shine in the cosmos.
The video was transmitted in near real-time last Saturday, but the feed to Earth was very glitchy and broken up.
The European Space Agency (Esa) has since had the sequence cleaned up and set to music by the UK artist Charlotte Hatherley.
It's the last view we'll ever get of the telescope scientists believe will go on to make transformative discoveries about the early Universe, and about planets circling far-off stars.
Webb is currently heading to an observing position some 1.5 million km from Earth on its nightside. It should arrive at this location in late January.
Already the astronomical facility is beyond the orbit of the Moon.
Saturday's launch on an Ariane rocket from French Guiana was a spectacular affair - and a very precise one.
The European booster performed flawlessly, putting Webb at just the right altitude and inclination to the equator, and with the required velocity.
Read more/full article/source -
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59831870
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