NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)

2004 - 2007

Project overview

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror, due for launch in October 2018. The Webb will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is a cooled thermal-infrared imager (9 K) and medium resolution spectrometer (7 K) being developed for launch on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) by a NASA-led international consortium comprising the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, European partners sponsored by the European Space Agency, and an international science team. MIRI is one of three instruments on the JWST being designed to address many astrophysical topics, ranging from the understanding of the structure of the universe to the birth and formation of stars.

The University of Reading has been responsible for contributing to the instrument with the design and fabrication of long-wave pass dichroic beam splitters in the spectrometer subsystem (5-29 µm), together with a set of precision bandpass filters (13-29 µm), and coronagraphic filters (15.5 and 23 µm) for the wide-field imaging camera.

Delivered hardware

Description	Filter Type	Quantity	Wavelength Region	Substrate Material	Dimensions
Dichroic Beamsplitters	Longwave-pass edge filters	9 channels	5 - 29 µm	Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)	21.0 mm Dia x 5.0 mm T
Imager Filters	Narrow Bandpass filters	4 channels	13 - 29 µm	Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), Zinc Selenide (ZnSe)	24.4 mm Dia x 4.0 mm T
Coronagraphic Filters	Longwave-pass edge filters	2 channels	15.5 - 23 µm	Zinc Selenide (ZnSe)	24.4 mm Dia x 4.0 mm T

Partners

Publications

G J Hawkins, R E Sherwood, K Djotni : "Mid-infrared filters for astronomical and remote sensing instrumentation", Proc. SPIE 7101-42, SPIE Europe Optical Systems Design Conference, Advances in Optical Thin Films III, Glasgow - Invited Paper (2008)
G J Hawkins, R E Sherwood : "Cooled infrared filters and dichroics for the James Webb Space Telescope Mid-Infrared Instrument", Applied Optics, Vol. 47, No. 13, pp. C25-C34 (2008)
G J Hawkins, R E Sherwood, B M Barrett : "Cooled Infrared Dichroic Beamsplitters and Filters for the MIRI Spectrometer and Imager (5-29µm)", Proc. OSA Technical Digest Optical Interference Coatings, WDPDP1, ISBN: 1-55752-841-1 (2007)

Media

JWST's Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI)

James Webb Space Telescope's Heart, the MIRI Instrument

NASA James Webb Space Telescope [playlist]

James Webb Space Telescope Significant Achievement Award

Dr Gary Hawkins and Mr Richard Sherwood have been presented with a certificate from the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) for their extraordinary contributions to the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Observatory. The award is in recognition of their extraordinary contribution to the JWST mission.

Further information

Related news

MIRI integrated into the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - July 08, 2013
James Webb telescope's Miri instrument flies out to US - May 29, 2012
James Webb instrument finished - May 10, 2012
ESA delivers JWST's Mid InfraRed instrument - May 10, 2012
Webb Telescope's MIRI Flight Instrument Completes Cryogenic Testing in the UK - August 18, 2011
European agreement on James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) signed - June 10, 2004
Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) - March 24, 2004