January 2022 – Page 2 – Astronomy Now

‘We nailed it!’ Webb clears major hurdle with full sunshade deployment

5 January 2022 Stephen Clark

The final layers of the James Webb Space Telescope’s sunshade were robotically pulled taut with a system of motors, cables, and pulleys Tuesday, clearing a major milestone before unfolding mirrors to collect light from the oldest galaxies in the Universe.

NASA holds up final Webb sunshade deploy to double check readiness

3 January 2022 Astronomy Now

Final tightening of Webb’s critical sunshade will clear the way for deployment of the telescope’s optical elements.

Catch some Quadrantid meteors to kick off 2022

1 January 2022 Mark Armstrong

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on the night of 3/4 January and, as one of the recognised major meteor showers of the year, there’s a great chance to see at least dozens of shooting stars each hour, especially as the Moon will not interfere this year.