Why was the Webb Telescope engineered specifically to capture infrared light, unlike the Hubble Space Telescope?

Answer

Light from the most distant galaxies is redshifted into the infrared spectrum upon arrival.

The primary reason for JWST's infrared specialization is the phenomenon of cosmological redshift. As the universe expands over billions of years, the wavelength of light emitted by distant, early galaxies is stretched significantly during its journey toward Earth. Light that was originally emitted as visible or ultraviolet radiation is stretched so severely that by the time it reaches modern instruments, it arrives predominantly in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Therefore, Webb is uniquely designed to detect this redshifted glow, allowing scientists to observe the universe's earliest structures, a task Hubble, optimized for visible/UV light, cannot perform as effectively for those same ancient sources.

Why was the Webb Telescope engineered specifically to capture infrared light, unlike the Hubble Space Telescope?

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