James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Launch and Orbit at L2

This visualization begins with a top-down view of the Earth-Sun system, with Lagrange points L3, L4, and L5 labeled. A magnified view of Earth appears, showing L1 and L2. The camera pushes into Earth as the James Webb Space Telescope is launched. The camera pulls back to a top-down view as JWST arrives at L2. A yellow arrow points to the Sun’s position. The camera shifts to an oblique view of the orbit before transiting to a view fixed on the Sun-Earth axis, showing how L2’s position is affected by the moon’s orbit around the Earth.

For more information, see https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4991/