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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday (July 11, 2022) released the first image from its James Webb Space Telescope, an image of a cluster of galaxies revealing the most detailed view of the early universe ever seen. The image is the “deepest” and “sharpest” infrared image of the distant universe to date. Thousands of galaxies appeared for the first time in Webb’s view – including the faintest objects ever seen in the infrared. An image of the 4.6-billion-year-old galaxy cluster called SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, was released by US President Joe Biden at a launch event at the White House in Washington.
NASA, in collaboration with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the full set of Webb’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a telecast on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s images include a look at a gas giant planet outside our solar system, two images of a nebula where stars are born and die in spectacular beauty, and an update to a classic image of five tightly clustered galaxies dancing around each one.
It’s here–the deepest, sharpest infrared view of the universe to date: Webb’s First Deep Field.
Previewed by @POTUS on July 11, it shows galaxies once invisible to us. The full set of @NASAWebb‘s first full-color images & data will be revealed July 12: https://t.co/63zxpNDi4I pic.twitter.com/zAr7YoFZ8C
— NASA (@NASA) July 11, 2022
At least one of the faint, older specks of light appearing in the photo’s “background” — composed of images of different wavelengths of light — dates back more than 13 billion years, NASA chief Bill Nelson said. That makes it just 800 million years younger than the Big Bang, the theoretical flashpoint that set in motion the expansion of the known universe about 13.8 billion years ago.
‘Historic day’: Joe Biden in an infrared image of space from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
“When this image is shared with the world, it will be a historic moment for science and technology, for astronomy and space exploration, for America and all of humanity,” Joe Biden said before unveiling the James Webb Space Telescope image.
“It’s a new window into the history of our universe,” he said.
Join me and Vice President Harris as we receive a briefing from NASA officials and preview the first images from the Webb Space Telescope – the highest-resolution images of the infrared universe ever captured. https://t.co/PbOIyIeXw9
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 11, 2022
“And today we will see the first light that shines through that window: light from other worlds, orbiting stars far beyond our own. It’s amazing to me,” the US president added.
He was joined at the Old Executive Office Building in the White House complex by US Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the US National Space Council.
The James Webb Space Telescope rocketed away in December 2021
The James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most powerful space telescope in the world, launched in December last year from French Guiana in South America. It reached its vantage point 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth in January, then began the lengthy process of aligning the mirrors, cooling the infrared detectors to a high enough temperature to work, and calibrating the science instruments, all protected by a sunshield. the size of a tennis court that keeps the telescope cool.
It aims to peer so far that scientists will glimpse the early days of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago and bring closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, into sharper focus.
Remarkably, at 21 feet (6.4 meters), Webb’s gold-plated flower-shaped mirror is the largest and most sensitive ever sent into space.
