page_title: Sunshield (JWST)
hierarchical_section_title: Sunshield (JWST)
caption_attribution_description: English: Illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope, current as of September 2009. Bottom side.
context_page_description: Sunshield is a component of the James Webb Space Telescope, designed to shield the main optics from the Sun's heat and light. This is part of a space telescope and it extends out unfolding a large metal-coated sheet of material post-launch. This material blocks the Sun's light and heat, so the telescope can see the faint light coming from stars and galaxies. The sunshield segment includes the layers and its deployment mechanisms, which also includes the trim flap.
  The layers of the sunshield provide an insulating layer for the optics and help dissipate heat. The shield has five layers and, each layer is roughly the size of a tennis court. Each layer is as thin as a human hair and is coated with aluminum for reflectivity. The purple color of some layers comes from the material silicon, the same material in most computer chips, which toughens the shield and which helps it reflect heat. The telescope uses the sunshield to stop itself from being warmed by infrared radiation from the Sun and other nearby planetary objects, which would otherwise inhibit normal operations of onboard instruments.
context_section_description: Sunshield is a component of the James Webb Space Telescope, designed to shield the main optics from the Sun's heat and light. This is part of a space telescope and it extends out unfolding a large metal-coated sheet of material post-launch. This material blocks the Sun's light and heat, so the telescope can see the faint light coming from stars and galaxies. The sunshield segment includes the layers and its deployment mechanisms, which also includes the trim flap.
  The layers of the sunshield provide an insulating layer for the optics and help dissipate heat. The shield has five layers and, each layer is roughly the size of a tennis court. Each layer is as thin as a human hair and is coated with aluminum for reflectivity. The purple color of some layers comes from the material silicon, the same material in most computer chips, which toughens the shield and which helps it reflect heat. The telescope uses the sunshield to stop itself from being warmed by infrared radiation from the Sun and other nearby planetary objects, which would otherwise inhibit normal operations of onboard instruments.
  The purple-magenta hue of the sun-facing side of Sunshield, originates from silicon doped aluminum coating on the outermost kapton membrane.
caption: The "hot" side of JWST with the sunshield protecting the main optics from sunlight
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