Where does this come from, and can I check it?

It orbits the Sun-Earth L2 point about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. The figure is taken from NASA Webb, 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 2,600 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.

Mondo Knows Facts

The James Webb telescope circles an empty point in space

It orbits the Sun-Earth L2 point about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth L2 is a gravitational balance point where the Sun and Earth pull together so a spacecraft can hold station with little fuel. Webb traces a halo orbit around it, keeping its sunshield between the telescope and the Sun. That geometry keeps the optics near 40 kelvin. It sits in Mondo's space collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NASA Webb

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Space & Astronomy trivia

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The James Webb Space Telescope uses gold-coated beryllium mirrorsGold plating reflects infrared light from the earliest stars in the universe The Spitzer Space Telescope peered through interstellar dust cloudsThermal infrared detectors imaged cold dust planet birth and faint stars The space station circles Earth every 90 minutesIt travels at about 7.7 kilometres a second at 400 kilometres altitude Geostationary orbit sits 35,786 kilometres upAt that height one lap takes exactly a day, so the satellite hangs still Orbiting low means moving fastAt 400 kilometres altitude a satellite needs nearly 8 kilometres a second Radar tracks tens of thousands of pieces of debrisMillions more fragments are too small to follow but still damaging

Tags: webb, orbits, infrared

The James Webb telescope circles an empty point in space: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: It orbits the Sun-Earth L2 point about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. The figure is taken from NASA Webb, 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 2,600 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.