Paint it black: behind the James Webb Space Telescope's signature color

[Admin]

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has to stay super cool to observe the cosmos. How does it beat the heat? Black paint.

Paint it black: behind the James Webb Space Telescope's signature color : Read more

 

[newtons_laws]

The sentence in the article "As the agency explained in its new YouTube series "Elements of Webb," the James Webb Space Telescope's radiator is painted black to absorb heat. " is confused at the very least. As the article explains later, objects with a black surface not only absorb heat better than other colours but also radiate heat better (black body emission). The purpose of painting the radiators black is to RADIATE heat (the clue is in the name radiator ), not to absorb it!