NASA Shows First Image of James Webb Space Telescope, Galaxy Cluster SMACS 0723 Seen in Stunning Detail
NASA has released the first full-color image of deep space taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, and it’s as stunning as we’ve come to expect. US President Joe Biden and NASA administrator Bill Nelson released the first image at a special live stream event at the White House in Washington DC, showing a scene from 13 billion light-years away.
“This first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Called Webb’s First Deep Field, the image of the cluster is this galaxy SMACS 0723 is full of detail,” NASA say in its release. this is a link to high resolution version of the picture.
NASA details that the deep-field image was taken by Webb’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. “This cluster’s combined mass acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying the galaxies much farther behind it. Webb’s NIRCam brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they there are tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including clusters of stars and diffuse features,” it added.
More images will be released by NASA via a live broadcast and press conference at 8 p.m. IST (10:30 a.m. ET) on July 12. James Webb . Space Telescope is believed to be powerful enough to detect objects much older and more distant than any object so far seen by Hubble Space Telescope or any observatory on Earth.
The space agency released a list of initial targets for the James Webb Telescope. last weekand already includes cluster SMACS 0723, in addition to the Carina Nebula, WASP-96 b (spectral), the Southern Ring Nebula, and the Stephan Quartet.
After decades of anticipation and a high publicity series delayThe James Webb Space Telescope is Released in December 2021. It is the largest observatory ever launched into space and costs an estimated $9.7 billion. It is equipped with a main mirror with a width of 6.5m, including 18 hexagonal segment, and mainly captures infrared light. This means it can capture about six times as much light as the Hubble Space Telescope. Its location at the Lagrange Point (about four times as far from the Earth as the Moon) allows it to orbit the sun in sync with the Earth. Apparatus must be maintained at temperatures below 50 Kelvin (-223 degrees Celsius).
During its lifetime, the James Webb Space Telescope is expected to observe the oldest stars and possibly aid in the discovery of new alien planets.
