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Gold plating reflects infrared light from the earliest stars in the universe. The figure is taken from NASA Science, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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The James Webb Space Telescope uses gold-coated beryllium mirrors

Gold plating reflects infrared light from the earliest stars in the universe

The primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope consists of 18 hexagonal beryllium segments coated with a microscopic layer of pure gold. Gold reflects infrared light exceptionally well, enabling Webb to observe faint heat signals from galaxies formed over 13.5 billion years ago.

James Webb Space Telescope Mirror30 — NASA/Drew Noel · Public domain · source

Where this comes from

NASA Science

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Tags: webb telescope, infrared, mirrors

The James Webb Space Telescope uses gold-coated beryllium mirrors: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Gold plating reflects infrared light from the earliest stars in the universe. The figure is taken from NASA Science, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a space fact?: Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.