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Light Path of Webb

Diagram showing the path that light takes from its source in space to the instruments inside the Webb telescope.

Webb’s primary mirror intercepts red and infrared light traveling through space and reflects it onto a smaller secondary mirror. The secondary mirror then directs the light into the scientific instruments where it is recorded.

  • Release Date
    May 27, 2021
  • Credit
    Image: STScI, NASA, ESA, CSA, Andi James (STScI)

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Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

STScI, NASA, ESA, CSA, Andi James (STScI)

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