NASA on Tuesday released a series of images from the powerful James Webb Space Telescope featuring brilliant color images of distant galaxies, including what NASA described as the “deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far.”
One of the images features the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which contains “thousands” of galaxies. Yet, NASA described the image itself as nothing more than a “tiny sliver of the vast universe”:
According to NASA:
The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying more distant galaxies, including some seen when the universe was less than a billion years old. This deep field, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours – achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest fields, which took weeks. And this is only the beginning. Researchers will continue to use Webb to take longer exposures, revealing more of our vast universe.
NASA released several other images obtained through the James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched late last year. One of the images shows the Southern Ring Nebula, which NASA describes as “an expanding cloud of gas that surrounds a dying star” which is “approximately 2,000 light years away”:
Another image showcases the galaxy cluster Stephan’s Quintet, which is “located in the constellation Pegasus, pierced through the shroud of dust surrounding the center of one galaxy, to reveal the velocity and composition of the gas near its supermassive black hole”:
Another image features the cosmic cliffs of the Carina Nebula, where newly formed stars can be seen:
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the images will undoubtedly “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.”
“The Webb team’s incredible success is a reflection of what NASA does best. We take dreams and turn them into reality for the benefit of humanity,” he added. “I can’t wait to see the discoveries that we uncover – the team is just getting started!”