Webb produced this detailed image of Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies in August 2022.
Described as the world’s most powerful telescope, NASA’s James Webb telescope has wowed space enthusiasts this year by snapping some amazing images of our universe. The next-generation observatory, worth $10 billion, was launched on December 25, 2021, on an Ariane 5 rocket from the Kourou Cosmodrome in French Guiana. Named after a former NASA director, Webb follows in the footsteps of the legendary Hubble, but offers his insights. a universe that was previously inaccessible to us. Webb is about 100 times more powerful than Hubble.
On its first anniversary, here are 5 incredible images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2022 that revolutionized space imaging.
The Deepest Infrared View of the Early Universe
In its first image, taken in July 2022, Webb revealed the “deepest and sharpest infrared image of the early universe” going back 13 billion years. The stunning footage, unveiled by President Joe Biden at a White House briefing, showed thousands of flooded galaxies and the faintest objects ever observed, colored from infrared to blue, orange and white. The image showed the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which formed 4.6 billion years ago, with more galaxies in front and behind the cluster.
Carina Nebula
That month, the telescope revealed previously hidden stellar nurseries and individual stars in the Carina Nebula. Called Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s three-dimensional image looks like steep mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, this is the edge of the giant gaseous void within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high.
The rings of Neptune
In September 2022, the telescope captured the clearest view of Neptune’s rings in 30 years. In 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to photograph Neptune. Not only did Webb capture the clearest view of the distant planet’s rings since the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by in 1989, but its cameras revealed the ice giant in a whole new light, according to NASA. Webb also captured seven of Neptune’s 14 known moons.
Cartwheel galaxy
In August 2022, Webb’s powerful infrared views produced this detailed image of Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies against a backdrop of many other galaxies. The image provided a new perspective on the evolution of the galaxy over billions of years, NASA said in a statement. Located about 500 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor, the Cartwheel galaxy is a rare sight. Its appearance, very similar to a wagon wheel, is the result of an intense event – a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller one that is not visible in this image.
Pillars of Creation
In October 2022, a lush and highly detailed scene – the remarkable “Pillars of Creation” – was captured by the James Webb Telescope. The twinkling of thousands of stars illuminates the telescope’s first shot of the giant pillars of gold, copper and brown that stand in the middle. The “Pillars of Creation” space is located 6,500 light-years away from Earth in the Eagle Nebula of our Milky Way galaxy.
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