By Gabriela Baron
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released the unseen images of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope Tuesday night, July 12.
Space is lovely, dark and deep. You're looking at the deepest infrared image of the universe ever taken—the first full-color image from @NASAWebb.
Go deeper on the galaxies of SMACS 0723 at https://t.co/63zxpNDi4I #UnfoldTheUniverse pic.twitter.com/YS8JZI3KqM
— NASA (@NASA) July 12, 2022
“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,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
“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,” Nelson added.
The telescope, released by NASA, captured the sharpest infrared image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion years.
One image showed the distinct signature of water, along with evidence for clouds and haze, in the atmosphere surrounding a hot, puffy gas giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like star.
The camera aboard Webb also captured the latest image of the Southern Ring Nebula, a dying star cloaked by dust and layers of light which is approximately 2,500 light years away.
The collection also included an image of Stephan’s Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies as well as “mountains” and “valleys” of star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula.
Launched in 2021, Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope designed to primarily conduct infrared astronomy. – ag
