The latest update on the James Webb Space Telescope literally sent a shiver down my spine! The telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) has now reached its operating temperature of a chilly 7 kelvins (7 deg above absolute 0, or-266 degrees C,-447 degrees F).
MIRI has now been turned on and is undergoing initial checkouts.
This frigid temp is colder than JWST’s other three instruments need to be, since MIRI detects longer infrared wavelengths than the rest of the instruments. But still, all the instruments need to reach extremely low temperatures — less than 40 K (−223 degrees Celsius,-369.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
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