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comparison of the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes
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comparison of the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes

Written by
Rick Livingston
Rick Livingston is the Sr. Director of Media at Encyclopædia Britannica.
Rick Livingston
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

comparison of the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes, The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 and has a primary mirror 2.4 metres (94 inches) in diameter. One of its most famous photographs is that of the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming region in the Eagle Nebula, 6,500 light-years from Earth. The even larger James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021 and has a primary mirror 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) in diameter. It also took a photo of the Pillars of Creation, and the interactive below shows how it revealed the region in even more impressive detail than the Hubble had.

Rick Livingston