What primary part of the spectrum does the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mainly observe, often resulting in different color schemes than Hubble?

Answer

Infrared

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is fundamentally different from Hubble in its primary operational spectrum, focusing heavily on infrared light rather than the visible and near-UV ranges Hubble frequently utilizes. Because infrared radiation penetrates dust clouds much more effectively than visible light, JWST excels at observing objects obscured by dust, such as infant stars. Since its raw data originates primarily from the infrared, JWST images are almost universally false-color representations, where infrared wavelengths are mapped to visible colors (RGB) or used to stand in for elements Hubble observed using visible or UV filters, leading to distinct visual interpretations of similar cosmic regions.

What primary part of the spectrum does the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mainly observe, often resulting in different color schemes than Hubble?

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How are Hubble Space Telescope images 'colorized' and processed?

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