ItвЂ™s like trying to stay balanced directly on top of a basketball. ThatвЂ™s because L2 is not precisely stable, Friedman says. ItвЂ™s orbiting L2, even as L2 orbits the sun. The telescope, also known as JWST, isnвЂ™t just sitting tight, though. Pairs of massive objects in space have five such Lagrange points. That lets objects at Lagrange points stay put without much effort. L2, technically known as the second Earth-sun Lagrange point, is a spot about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in the direction of Mars, where the sunвЂ™s and EarthвЂ™s gravity combine to provide the inward-pulling centripetal force needed to keep a smaller object on a curved path. вЂњEverything could go perfectly, and it would still take six monthsвЂќ from launch for the telescopeвЂ™s science instruments to be ready for action, he says. вЂњThat doesnвЂ™t mean thereвЂ™s anything wrong,вЂќ says astronomer Scott Friedman of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, who is managing this next phase of WebbвЂ™s journey. There are still several monthsвЂ™ worth of tasks on WebbвЂ™s to-do list before the telescope is ready to peep at the earliest light in the universe or spy on exoplanetsвЂ™ alien atmospheres ( SN: 10/6/21).

вЂњEverything weвЂ™re doing is about getting the observatory ready to do transformative science.

вЂњWeвЂ™re a month in and the baby hasnвЂ™t even opened its eyes yet,вЂќ said Jane Rigby of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The telescope canвЂ™t start doing science yet. We were just getting this beautiful spacecraft unfolded and ready to do science.

вЂњThe last 30 days, we call that вЂ™30 days on the edge.вЂ™ WeвЂ™re just so proud to be through that.вЂќ But the teamвЂ™s work is not yet done. Guiding the telescope to L2 is вЂњan incredible accomplishment by the entire team,вЂќ said WebbвЂ™s commissioning manager Keith Parrish in a January 24 news conference announcing the arrival. After a Christmas launch and a month of unfolding and assembling itself in space, the new space observatory reached its final destination, a spot known as L2. The James Webb Space Telescope has finally arrived at its new home.

Space telescope