@helenS You got me curious, so I started looking things up. NASA says [quote]The wavelength range covered by Webb's scientific instruments will be from about 0.6 μm to 28 μm (visible to mid-infrared light). By comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope observes at 0.1-2.5 microns (ultraviolet to the near infrared).[/quote]
Astronomers can choose one of 4 instruments at a time (I think) 1 Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam): 0.6–5 micrometers 2 Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec): 0.7–5 micrometers 3 Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI): 5–28.5 micrometers 4 Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS/NIRISS): 0.6–5 micrometers
Each instrument has options; here are the filter options for NIRCam I think many of the images we see are originally "black and white" taken thru 3 or more filters sequentially, then assigned "false colors" to make a composite color image (if that makes any sense).
I think many of the images we see are originally "black and white" taken thru 3 or more filters sequentially, then assigned "false colors" to make a composite color image (if that makes any sense).