NASA Releases First Full-Colour Image From Space Telescope

The first full-colour image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been revealed to the public and it has everyone in awe.

Launched on 25 December last year – after a 14-year delay – and touted as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST’s mission is primarily for infrared astronomy, and one of its objectives is to study the early universe and universe formation.

On Tuesday, 12 July, NASA made history when the JWST produced the deepest, sharpest image of the universe ever taken, showing off thousands of galaxies in one photo.

To give you an idea of the scale: this small snapshot covers a portion of the sky that is roughly the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on Earth. The objects in the photo – a galaxy cluster titled “SMACS 0723” – are over 4.2 billion light-years away, meaning the galaxies are being shown as they were 13.5 billion years ago.

The photo has opened a new chapter for astronomy and cosmology.

Dr Stephen Wilkins from the University of Sussex, England says that the JWST has a unique combination of sensitivity, wavelength range and ability to conduct spectroscopy makes it “revolutionary”.

Watch this space (in full colour)!

Image Credit: Source