In some of the most dazzling photos to ever be revealed by NASA, they revealed spectacular images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, reigning in a completely new era for astronomy with the clearest image the world has ever seen of space and its incredible depths and dimensions.
All of these incredible photographs, which showed the first full-color images and spectroscopic data taken by the telescope, were just released to the public during the second week of July, providing the most detailed look into the once incredibly elusive cosmic features. In fact, some adoring individuals have reportedly waited as long as thirty years to just get a glimpse of such accurate photos as these.
According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, “Today, we present humanity with a groundbreaking new view of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope – a view the world has never seen before.”
He also shared, “These images, including the deepest infrared view of our universe that has ever been taken, show us how Webb will help to uncover the answers to questions we don’t even yet know to ask; questions that will help us better understand our universe and humanity’s place within it.”
Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, which lacked infrared vision, the Webb telescope managed to see what are considered the farthest away scenes of the universe.
Nelson added, “The Webb team’s incredible success is a reflection of what NASA does best. We take dreams and turn them into reality for the benefit of humanity. I can’t wait to see the discoveries that we uncover—the team is just getting started!”
Since the telescope’s launch, it has already been booked for over 6,000 hours of research time over dozens of different projects with a variety of astronomers who want to check out “high red-shift quasars” to asteroids in our own solar system, to exoplanets, and more.
But from what we can garner from the very first findings of the Webb telescope, it has already told the story of an entirely hidden universe in every phase of its cosmic history, such as neighboring planets outside of the earth’s solar system – which are known as exoplanets – to the furthest observable galaxies in the early universe.
Associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, shared in a statement on NASA’s website page, “It took decades of drive and perseverance to get us here, and I am immensely proud of the Webb team. These first images show us how much we can accomplish when we come together behind a shared goal, to solve the cosmic mysteries that connect us all. It’s a stunning glimpse of the insights yet to come.”
As shared on the NASA website, Webb’s first observations were selected by a group of representatives from the Space Telescope Science Institute, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and NASA. They disclosed the capabilities of all four of the Webb’s state-of-the-art scientific instruments on their page, as follows:
- SMACS 0723: Webb has delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far—and in only 12.5 hours. For a person standing on Earth looking up, the field of view for this new image, a color composite of multiple exposures each about two hours long, is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length. This deep field uses a lensing galaxy cluster to find some of the most distant galaxies ever detected. This image only scratches the surface of Webb’s capabilities in studying deep fields and tracing galaxies back to the beginningof cosmic time.
- WASP-96b (spectrum): Webb’s detailed observation of this hot, puffy planet outside our solar system reveals the clear signature of water, along with evidence of haze and clouds that previous studies of this planet did not detect. With Webb’s first detection of water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, it will now set out to study hundreds of other systems to understand what other planetary atmospheresare made of.
- Southern Ring Nebula: This planetary nebula, an expanding cloud of gas that surrounds a dying star, is approximately 2,000 light years away. Here, Webb’s powerful infrared eyes bring a second dying star into full view for the first time. From birth to death as a planetary nebula, Webb can explore the expelling shells of dust and gas of aging stars that may one day become a new star or planet.
- Stephan’s Quintet: Webb’s view of this compact group of galaxies, located in the constellation Pegasus, pierced through the shroud of dust surrounding the center of one galaxy, to reveal the velocity and composition of the gas near its supermassive black hole. Now, scientists can get a rare look, in unprecedented detail, at how interacting galaxiesare triggering star formation in each other and how the gas in these galaxies is being disturbed.
- Carina Nebula: Webb’s look at the ‘Cosmic Cliffs’ in the Carina Nebula unveils the earliest, rapid phases of star formation that were previously hidden. Looking at this star-forming region in the southern constellation Carina, as well as others like it, Webb can see newly forming stars and study the gas and dust that made them.
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