See The Glorious First Shots Of The Universe From The James Webb Telescope
You can get a glimpse of the first James Webb Telescope images sent back. NASA gave us a look at what's to come from this technology
This article is more than 2 years old
When the James Webb Space Telescope was finally put into orbit back in January of this year, scientists, researchers, and enthusiasts were rightfully excited about what we would get back from this initiative. The telescope was set to give us some of the clearest pictures of the furthers reaches of space and the universe that we’d ever seen. It was designed specifically to provide a snapshot of the universe unlike anything up until that point. But there was still the waiting game and folks have been eagerly awaiting the initial results. Well, they are here now and were completely worth the wait. The first images coming from the James Webb Space Telescope are breathtaking and a chance to see the universe is a totally new light.
The first released images from the James Webb Space Telescope came via NASA and the excitement had been building ever since it was reported that the initial reactions from some scientists had them being brought to tears. The images returned back are admittedly just a tiny spec of the universe but are infrared imaging that shows distant (and ancient) galaxies in a way we haven’t seen them before. It’s awe-inspiring and humbling to see these pictures, especially considering the timeline ranges over billions of years and the pictures provided are just an infinitesimal view of the entirety of space. Check out what NASA provided from the James Webb Space Telescope.
These first images from the James Webb Space Telescope were officially released from the office of President Joe Biden in conjunction with the team from NASA and were meant as a sneak peek around what’s to come. A much bigger set of pictures and images will come on Tuesday during a live broadcast set to start around 10:30 AM EST.
According to NASA, this first set of images comes from galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 which apparently includes thousands of galaxies in the image field. That’s crazy to even consider and nuts to think how far away and back we are looking. NASA tried to put these images into context when it came to just how small a slice of the known universe we are looking at. According to their press release, this image “covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.”
And it wasn’t hyperbole when we said that these images caused scientists involved with the James Webb Space Telescope to cry real tears when they saw the first looks. It’s easy to see why, especially when the pictures can be put into a universal context around the rest of the galaxy. These pictures were taken from a set of galaxies estimated to be 13 billion light-years away. In this way, the light coming from them is relatively “close” to the actual Big Bang. We can’t wait to see what more is to come from the James Webb Space Telescope. Judging by the first look, we are in for a treat that could unlock some of the deepest mysteries around time and space.
