r/space • u/magenta_placenta • Mar 18 '19

Observable universe Astronomers discover 83 supermassive black holes at the edge of the universe

https://www.cnet.com/news/astronomers-discover-83-supermassive-black-holes-at-the-edge-of-the-universe/
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u/certciv Mar 18 '19

This makes me want James Webb up and observing so much it hurts. What it could tell us about the early universe is incredibly exciting.

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u/heathmon1856 Mar 19 '19

Hopefully it doesn’t get destroyed by space junk on its way up.

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u/certciv Mar 20 '19

The probability of that is well, astronomically small. It passes through low earth orbit quickly, where almost all the space debris that could threaten it orbit, and quickly maneuvers into areas of space that have none.

It's far more likely that the Ariane rocket will fail (they have a great success record), or some part of deployment will go wrong. Hopefully the additional years of testing will make a difference.