Here’s the deepest, first full-colour image of the universe to date – taken by NASA’s James Webb Telescope
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Centuries ago, we thought the universe was only comprised of the galaxy humanity lived in. But gradually, we were able to get a better hold of how truly vast it is. The truth is that we’ve really only scratched the surface of the endless wonder that exists beyond our solar system.
Who knows what wonders the James Webb will uncover? Source: Open AI (Image Generated by AI)
The universe is full of life and NASA’s James Webb Telescope was able to capture a testament to that, taking us back to the dawn of time in a major breakthrough for humanity.
US President Joe Biden unveiled the clearest, deepest image of the galaxy to date, known as ‘Webb’s First Deep Field’, during an event at the White House on Monday.
The James Webb Telescope took nearly three decades to develop and launch, but this week it was able to provide us with a tiny glimpse of the observable universe – a view that we’ve never seen before. The image showed a stretch of space studded with a cluster of galaxies referred to by astronomers as SMACS 0723.
Fascinating image taken by the James Webb telescope Image Credit: NASA
“If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm’s length, that is the part of the universe that you’re seeing [in this image] — just one little speck of the universe,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained.
“You’re seeing galaxies that are shining around other galaxies whose light has been bent.”
Nelson added that light travels at nearly 300,000 kilometres per second, meaning that the light observed in a single “speck” within the image has been travelling for over 13 billion years.
He speculated that future images will capture a time even further back into the ancient universe to about 13.5 billion years ago, “almost to the beginning.”
“That light that you’re seeing on one of those little specs has been travelling for over 13 billion years,” he detailed. “And we’re going back further – this is just the first image… We know the universe is 13.8 billion years old we’re going almost back to the beginning.”
The telescope serves as a stepping stone for researchers to study the chemical composition of the atmosphere of planets beyond our solar system and whether they are potentially habitable, he shared.
It was launched in December last year as a successor to the iconic Hubble telescope.
The Hubble telescope is renowned for producing the iconic composite image of the Carina Nebula stellar nursery – famous for its towering pillars that include “Mystic Mountain”, and a three-light-year-tall cosmic pinnacle.
The $13 billion project is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency to enable further investigations into astronomy and cosmology.
Post Credit: @NASAWebb
US Vice President Kamala Harris said that the James Webb Telescope is “one of humanity’s greatest engineering achievements” and that it “will enhance what we know about the origins of our universe, our solar system, and possibly life itself.”
Ms Harris also added that the telescope and its images represent a “new chapter in the exploration of our universe.”
“From the beginning of history, humans have looked up to the night sky in wonder… And thanks to the dedicated people who have been working for decades in engineering and on scientific marvels we can look to the sky with new understanding.”
Mr Biden said that the “historic” achievement also played a role in shaping the knowledge we have about the future of our planet.
“It’s like being in a room that is very dark and you only have a little pinhole you can look through,” he described.
The first few images of the James Webb telescope. Image Credit: NASA
But now, thanks to the telescope, “you’ve opened a huge window and you can see all the little details. It shows what we can achieve and what more we can discover – not just about distant places but about our very own planet and climate,”
“That’s why the American government must invest in science and technology – even more so than we’ve done in the past.”
A full series of images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope will be released on July 12, including remarkable views of distant galaxies, bright nebulae, and a faraway giant gas planet.
An international committee decided that the first wave of full-colour scientific images would also include the Carina Nebula, which is a massive cloud of dust and gas 7,600 light-years away, as well as the Southern Ring Nebula, which surrounds a dying star 2,000 light-years away.
What a sight to behold, eh? What are your thoughts on these never before seen images? Share them with us in the comments!
Learn more about the James Webb Telescope and its images by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Washington Post
Who knows what wonders the James Webb will uncover? Source: Open AI (Image Generated by AI)
The universe is full of life and NASA’s James Webb Telescope was able to capture a testament to that, taking us back to the dawn of time in a major breakthrough for humanity.
US President Joe Biden unveiled the clearest, deepest image of the galaxy to date, known as ‘Webb’s First Deep Field’, during an event at the White House on Monday.
The James Webb Telescope took nearly three decades to develop and launch, but this week it was able to provide us with a tiny glimpse of the observable universe – a view that we’ve never seen before. The image showed a stretch of space studded with a cluster of galaxies referred to by astronomers as SMACS 0723.
Fascinating image taken by the James Webb telescope Image Credit: NASA
“If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm’s length, that is the part of the universe that you’re seeing [in this image] — just one little speck of the universe,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained.
“You’re seeing galaxies that are shining around other galaxies whose light has been bent.”
Nelson added that light travels at nearly 300,000 kilometres per second, meaning that the light observed in a single “speck” within the image has been travelling for over 13 billion years.
He speculated that future images will capture a time even further back into the ancient universe to about 13.5 billion years ago, “almost to the beginning.”
“That light that you’re seeing on one of those little specs has been travelling for over 13 billion years,” he detailed. “And we’re going back further – this is just the first image… We know the universe is 13.8 billion years old we’re going almost back to the beginning.”
The telescope serves as a stepping stone for researchers to study the chemical composition of the atmosphere of planets beyond our solar system and whether they are potentially habitable, he shared.
It was launched in December last year as a successor to the iconic Hubble telescope.
The Hubble telescope is renowned for producing the iconic composite image of the Carina Nebula stellar nursery – famous for its towering pillars that include “Mystic Mountain”, and a three-light-year-tall cosmic pinnacle.
The $13 billion project is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency to enable further investigations into astronomy and cosmology.
Post Credit: @NASAWebb
US Vice President Kamala Harris said that the James Webb Telescope is “one of humanity’s greatest engineering achievements” and that it “will enhance what we know about the origins of our universe, our solar system, and possibly life itself.”
Ms Harris also added that the telescope and its images represent a “new chapter in the exploration of our universe.”
“From the beginning of history, humans have looked up to the night sky in wonder… And thanks to the dedicated people who have been working for decades in engineering and on scientific marvels we can look to the sky with new understanding.”
Mr Biden said that the “historic” achievement also played a role in shaping the knowledge we have about the future of our planet.
“It’s like being in a room that is very dark and you only have a little pinhole you can look through,” he described.
The first few images of the James Webb telescope. Image Credit: NASA
But now, thanks to the telescope, “you’ve opened a huge window and you can see all the little details. It shows what we can achieve and what more we can discover – not just about distant places but about our very own planet and climate,”
“That’s why the American government must invest in science and technology – even more so than we’ve done in the past.”
A full series of images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope will be released on July 12, including remarkable views of distant galaxies, bright nebulae, and a faraway giant gas planet.
An international committee decided that the first wave of full-colour scientific images would also include the Carina Nebula, which is a massive cloud of dust and gas 7,600 light-years away, as well as the Southern Ring Nebula, which surrounds a dying star 2,000 light-years away.
What a sight to behold, eh? What are your thoughts on these never before seen images? Share them with us in the comments!
Learn more about the James Webb Telescope and its images by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Washington Post
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