What type of radiation does the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) collect, and why is its operating environment crucial?

Infrared spectrum; to minimize interference from its own heat signature

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is specifically designed to observe primarily in the infrared spectrum. Observing in this part of the spectrum allows it to see further back in time toward the universe's first galaxies, as infrared light penetrates dust clouds that obscure visible light sources. Crucially, infrared radiation is essentially heat. To successfully detect the extremely faint heat signals arriving from billions of light-years away, the telescope itself must be kept incredibly cold. Operating in the deep cold of space minimizes the interference caused by the telescope's own internal heat signature, ensuring that the sensitive instruments detect cosmic signals rather than their own thermal emission.