Which telescope launched in 2021 studies the universe mainly in infrared light?

The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, studies the universe mainly in infrared light.

NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency developed Webb as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, although the two observatories use different observing strategies. Webb launched on 25 December 2021 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. It reached a solar orbit near the Sun–Earth L2 point, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

Webb’s 6.5-meter primary mirror is made from 18 gold-coated beryllium segments. Its huge five-layer sunshield blocks heat and light from the Sun, Earth, and Moon, allowing the instruments to operate at extremely low temperatures. Infrared observation helps Webb study faint, distant galaxies, star formation, cool objects, and atmospheres of exoplanets.

The telescope’s name honors James E. Webb, NASA administrator from 1961 to 1968. Webb’s observations can look deep into cosmic history because light from distant galaxies has taken billions of years to arrive. Infrared data complement, rather than simply replace, visible-light observations from instruments such as Hubble.