--- title: "The James Webb Space Telescope Just Locked Onto Its First Star" description: "The James Webb Space Telescope keeps trucking along splendidly — and it just hit another exciting milestone." date: "2022-02-18" modified: "2022-02-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/webb-locks-on" categories: - "James Webb Space Telescope" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "james webb space telescope" - "JWST" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # The James Webb Space Telescope Just Locked Onto Its First Star ![The James Webb Space Telescope keeps trucking along splendidly — and it just hit another exciting milestone.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Guide Star The James Webb Space Telescope keeps trucking along — and it just hit another exciting milestone. As the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) noted in a [press release]() about its contribution to the telescope, the orbital observatory's Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) has successfully been used to "lock on" to its first star. In a post about the highly sensitive instrument so enthusiastic that the space agency used [a rare exclamation point in its title](), NASA said that the FGS "allows Webb to point precisely, so that it can obtain high-quality images." It will ultimately be used to detect the first light of stars, and later, to see and characterize exoplanets. During "Line of Sight" tests that determined the FGS was able to point correctly, the Webb team confirmed that the instrument is able to track a specific guide star, a key mechanism that'll be used to align the telescope's iconic golden mirrors. https://twitter.com/csa_asc/status/1494316876947722242 ## Mirror Image Next, the CSA added, the FGS will be used in the coming weeks to help align the telescope's 18 hexagons that make up its huge primary mirror array. Once those mirrors are aligned, we'll finally get more precise photos than, for example, those of HD 84406, the star whose light the telescope [honed in on last week]() and captured in a mosaic-like image. It's unclear if the telescope's new "guide star" is the same as the one in its first stunning, if incomplete, photos. Nevertheless, this marks a very exciting milestone in the JWST project, which [after months of delays]() has been doing an amazing job since its Christmas Day launch. The final photos, as CSA described, will be the sum of the 18 mirror segments being "stacked" alongside the rest of the telescope's calibrated optical elements "to ultimately create a highly focused image of a single star." https://twitter.com/ThePlanetaryGuy/status/1492170105379250183 **READ MORE:** [Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor Is Guiding!]() \[NASA\] **More JWST:** *[Awesome Photo Shows James Webb Space Telescope in Deep Space Home]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()