Temperatures are updated once per day during Webb's cool down and then weekly through the end of commissiong once they are at operational levels (see blog: Final Temperature? ). In general, temperatures change slowly so this frequency is sufficient to give a snapshot of overall trends. Temperatures are rounded to the nearest whole number and displayed in the users choice of Farenheit or Celsius along with Kelvin in parentheses.
Temperature control is a vital aspect of Webb's design, engineering and operations. Of the many temperature monitoring points on the observatory, this page displays 2 'hot side' and 2 'cold side' temperatures and a set of bellwether instrument temperatures that are a good indication of overall temperature status and trends.
Instrument Temperatures ( 1-5 ):
The instruments are located within the ISIM: Integrated Science Instrument Module and the Fine Steering Mirror is located within the protrusion in the center of the primary mirror as shown in the location diagram. Each temperature sensor is located on the 'bench' of the instrument which is the main structure that holds the instrument's optics and components. Instruments are labelled with the following numbers (note: these labels will pop up if you hover your mouse over the display):
1) MIRI Bench: Mid InfraRed Instrument
Units:
By default the page loads and displays distances in miles, temperatures in Fahrenheit, ie English/US units (also known as Imperial or USCS system units). If you wish to have the page load and display in kilometers and temperatures in Celsius, ie metric system units use the urls below to select your preferred units. We do not use cookies; these urls 'store' your units preference. Once chosen, bookmark the urls with your preferred units and use it instead of the default website link. NOTE: the page units toggle button English<>Metric now reloads the page with these urls.