We have lift off

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has successfully launched!

The telescope project, 30 years in the making, is now heading to the L2 Earth-Sun Lagrange Point, about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.

You'll recall the flaws with the Hubble Space Telescope's optics were able to be fixed by adding corrective mirrors during a visit by astronauts on the Space Shuttle. Not so for the new telescope - with the L2 Lagrange point being well outside the reach of any manned missions with our current technology.

We can only hope that the project is a success, but of course, its success will be due to the countless hours that scientists and engineers have dedicated to the project over the previous decades, and will continue to do so for its projected 10 year lifespan.

The new telescope's mirror is 3.5 times the size of Hubble's, allowing us to see further back in time, possibly to within 100 million years after the Big Bang, back to the formation of the first stars. It should allow us to see how the first stars and galaxies formed. (Of course, 100 million years is still an unfathomably long time!) It may also reveal details as to why there are supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies.

The telescope will also be more sensitive than Hubble in the infrared wavelengths, allowing us to see more detail.

As well as peering back in time closer to the beginning of the universe, the telescope will allow imaging of exoplanets, including spectrographic analysis of their atmospheres (if they have them). This is really exciting stuff as it potentially allows chemical signatures of life to be remotely detected - at least what we think might be signs that life might exist.

And, they're planning on pointing the telescope at Titan - one of Saturn's moons. That could reveal some exciting new knowledge.

Alas, we've got about 6 - 7 months to wait until the first images are released - but wow, what a time to be alive - I'm excited to learn about all the discoveries that are going to be made!