The first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has been released just now, depicting the sharpest picture of the early universe ever taken.
According to NASA, if you held a grain of sand up to the sky at arm’s length, the tiny grain would be the size of Webb’s view in the picture below.
United States President Joe Biden said the images from the telescope show “light from other worlds, orbiting stars far beyond our own… it’s astounding to me”.
This image provided by NASA on Monday, July 11, 2022, shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.Credit:NASA
Speaking at a press briefing in Washington on Monday night (Tuesday morning AEST) that he hoped the innovation would position the US as a “nation of possibilities” and teach young children to believe nothing was out of reach.
Some of the images taken by the $10 billion telescope will depict light from not too long after the Big Bang occurred.
We’re also expecting some of the pictures to include a view of a giant gaseous planet outside our solar system, two images of a nebula where stars are born and die in spectacular beauty and an update of a classic image of five tightly clustered galaxies that dance around each other.
Vice President Kamala Harris said the telescope was one of “humanity’s great engineering achievements”.
“The images we will see today are a testament to the amazing work done by the 1000s of workers across our nation who dedicated years to this project,” she said.
“They embarked on this complex endeavour for the benefit of humankind, and in the process accelerated American innovation, strengthened partnerships with our allies, and will undoubtedly inspire generations to look to the heavens with excitement and ambition.”
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