See the Universe in a New Way with the Webb Space Telescope's First Images
Scroll to see the first full-color from the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest & most powerful space observatory ever made. Unfold the universe with us:
The dawn of a new era in astronomy has begun as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The objects below represent the first wave of full-color scientific images and spectra the observatory has gathered and the official beginning of Webb’s general science operations.
James Webb Space Telescope's First Deep Field (2022-07-12) by NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScINASA
Webb's First Deep Field
This image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, looks 4.6 billion years into the past. Looking at infrared wavelengths beyond Hubble’s deepest fields, Webb’s sharp near-infrared view reveals thousands of the faintest objects ever observed.
WASP-96 B
A giant mostly-gas planet outside our solar system, discovered in 2014 is captured as the planet moved across its star.
Transmission spectrum revealed new properties of the planet: an unambiguous signature of water, indications of haze, evidence of clouds in the atmosphere.
Southern Ring Nebula by James Webb Space Telescope (2022-07-12) by NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScINASA
Southern Ring Nebula
The Southern Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula: it’s an expanding cloud of gas and dust surrounding a dying star. The white dwarf appears to the lower left of the bright central star. This image was captured in near-infrared light using Webb's NIRCam.
Southern Ring Nebula
The same star appears – but brighter, larger, and redder – in the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) image. This white dwarf star is cloaked in thick layers of dust, which make it appear larger.
Stefan's Quintet by James Webb Space Telescope (2022-07-12) by NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScINASA
Stefan's Quintet
The mosaic covers about one-fifth of the Moon’s diameter; it contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files.
Stefan's Quintet
A visual grouping of five galaxies near each other was discovered in 1877 and is best known for being prominently featured in the holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This image brings the group from the silver screen to your screen in a mosaic that is Webb’s largest image.
Carina Nebula by James Webb Space Telescpe (2022-07-12) by NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScINASA
Carina Nebula
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars, called the Cosmic Cliffs, is the edge of the star-birthing Carina Nebula.
Carina Nebula
Usually, the early phases of star formation are difficult to capture, but Webb can peer through cosmic dust—thanks to its extreme sensitivity, spatial resolution, and imaging capability. Protostellar jets clearly shoot out from some of these young stars in this new image.
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.