The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) for JWST is shown on its rotation dolly after the two mirror-image modules were bolted together to form the complete instrument.
Learn More About NIRCam:
The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) is Webb's primary imager that will cover the infrared wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns.
NIRCam will detect light from: the earliest stars and galaxies in the process of formation; the population of stars in nearby galaxies; as well as young stars in the Milky Way and Kuiper Belt objects. NIRCam is equipped with coronagraphs, instruments that allow astronomers to take pictures of very faint objects around a central bright object, like stellar systems. NIRCam's coronagraphs work by blocking a brighter object's light, making it possible to view the dimmer object nearby - just like shielding the sun from your eyes with an upraised hand can allow you to focus on the view in front of you. With the coronagraphs, astronomers hope to determine the characteristics of planets orbiting nearby stars.
NIRCam is being built by the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin.
The NIRCam Engineering Design Unit is being tested in the NASA Goddard cleanroom. Watch on our "Webb-cam"!
Watch the Video Snap Shot of the NIRCam engineering test unit arriving at NASA Goddard:
Technical Details for NIRCam:
The NIRCam has ten mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe) detector arrays. These are analogous to CCDs found in ordinary digital cameras.
The NIRCam is a science instrument but also an Optical Telescope Element wavefront sensor, which provides something similar to instant
LASIK vision correction.
