Myth vs Reality: The Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes
Video Player
Video Versions
This brief segment addresses the misconception that the James Webb Space Telescope will replace the Hubble Space Telescope.
Search for Life
Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.
All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA except:
· Photo of a hot spring courtesy of the National Park Service/Jim Peaco
· Photo of crabs at a deep-sea hydrothermal vent courtesy of Alex D. Rogers (University of Oxford)
· Photo of a Pompeii worm courtesy of University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment
· Photo of a ship’s wake courtesy of Andrzej Otrębski
· Photo of a clown fish courtesy of Wikimedia user Ritiks
· Photos of a sea turtle and jellyfish courtesy of Wikimedia user Brocken Inaglory
· Photo of a drinking swallow courtesy of Wikimedia user Sanchezn
· Photo of elephants courtesy of Derek Keats (Johannesburg, South Africa)
· Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory
· Exoplanet illustrations courtesy of ESO
· Ariane 5 rocket launch image ©2008 ESA – CNES – Arianespace/Photo by Optique Video CSG
· JWST animation and illustrations courtesy of G. Bacon (STScI)
· JWST deployment animation courtesy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Northrop Grumman
· Hubble Space Telescope animations courtesy of ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
· Illustration of K2 fields based on image courtesy of ESO/S. Brunier/NASA Kepler Mission/Wendy Stenzel
· TESS animation courtesy of Chester Beals (MIT Lincoln Laboratory) and George Ricker (MIT)
· Animation of planetary orbits around Milky Way stars courtesy of ESO/M. Kornmesser
· Prism animation courtesy of ESO/L. Calçada
· Spectrum illustration courtesy of M. Lussier (STScI)
· Artwork depicting water on the surfaces of other worlds courtesy of Dan Durda (Fellow, IAAA)
· Spectral line illustrations courtesy of A. Feild (STScI) and the European Space Agency
Written by Tracy Vogel
Designed by Marc Lussier
Music courtesy of Associated Production Music
(SPEECH)
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A black and white picture of a minotaur in the top left. A color picture of a planet and sun in the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY
Myth side
Text, The James Webb Space Telescope replaces the Hubble Space Telescope.
Reality side
Text, Webb and Hubble complement each other. While Hubble primarily observes the visible light of the universe, Webb observes infrared light. Hubble is expected to be operating long after Webb’s launch. Hubble and Webb can observe the same objects in space at the same time, providing a variety of information to astronomers.
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A black and white picture of a minotaur in the top left. A color picture of a planet and sun in the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY
Myth side
Text, The James Webb Space Telescope replaces the Hubble Space Telescope.
Reality side
Text, Webb and Hubble complement each other. While Hubble primarily observes the visible light of the universe, Webb observes infrared light. Hubble is expected to be operating long after Webb’s launch. Hubble and Webb can observe the same objects in space at the same time, providing a variety of information to astronomers.