James Webb Space Telescope Fist Images.
The moment has finally arrived: the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is fully deployed,
fully operational, fully commissioned and the first images have been released.
As of July 12, 2022, it has officially returned its first suite of science data, shedding
new light on a series of five targets that showcase the breadth of the observatory’s
capabilities.
These images of James Webb are the most detailed images ever taken.
The images reveal a stellar nursery where stars are born, interactions between galaxies,
and a unique view of an exoplanet.
These images mark a new era in our understanding of the universe.
Let's take a peek at what its golden, segmented eyes observed at long last.
These initial James Webb Space Telescope images showcase the telescope's significant capabilities,
which include unprecedented resolution, light-gathering power, wavelength coverage, and instrumental
capabilities.
JWST's powerful instruments will enable scientists to study a wide range of astronomical objects,
from the Solar System to exoplanets and protoplanetary systems, from stars to star clusters and the
interstellar medium, and from black holes to galaxies to the large-scale structure of
the Universe.
All of these objects had previously been seen, but never by anything with the capabilities
that JWST possesses.
1-) The Deep Field Image of the Universe
When this image was released, it quickly shattered the cosmic record for the deepest view of
the Universe ever taken: an incredible achievement.
This record was formerly held by the Hubble Space Telescope, which initially set it in
1994 with the first Hubble Deep Field and repeatedly beat its own record.
NASA's first large photograph was the deepest image of the cosmos ever obtained.
The Hubble deep field previously held this record.
The world was granted a never-before-seen view into the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) published its first science image, breaking the Hubble
Space Telescope's 1994 record for the deepest view of the universe.
This new picture depicts a plethora of galaxies that date back to shortly after the Big Bang.
These "first light" photos contained SMACS 0723, a distant galaxy cluster, as well as
all the background objects stretched and amplified by the cluster's gravity.
2-) The Carina Nebula
The Carina Nebula is a star-forming region located in our own Milky Way galaxy.
It spans nearly 300 light-years from end-to-end and is home to some of the most massive stars
in our galaxy.
These massive stars are responsible for stellar Cataclysms and explosive events that can be
seen throughout the cosmos.
It is so large that viewing it with JWST's complete array of sensors would take years.
JWST, on the other hand, focused on one very tiny, particular region inside the Carina
Nebula: NGC 3324, a young star-forming zone informally known as the "Cosmic Cliffs."
The carina nebula’s images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope are some of the
most incredible images ever taken by a space telescope.
In near-infrared light, we can see stars that have never been seen before, as well as new
details in the clouds of gas and dust.
The mid-infrared image reveals even more detail, including filaments of dust that are illuminated
by young stars.
In 2009, the Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning image of the Carina Nebula ( seen
here).
The image shows the nebula in near-infrared and mid-infrared light, revealing previously
hidden details about its structure and composition.
Now, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), we have an even better view of this
incredible region of our galaxy.
The JWST is able to capture images in even higher levels of detail, allowing us to see
even more fascinating details about the structure and composition of the Carina Nebula.
The image below shows a before-and-after comparison of the Carina Nebula as seen through the lens
of the JWST.
The difference is truly amazing!
3-) Exoplanet wasp-96b
Wasp-96b is an exoplanet that was discovered in 2014.
It is a gas giant planet that orbits its parent star, Wasp-96, very tightly: with a period
of just 3.4 days.
Wasp-96 is similar to our Sun: a G-class star of approximately the same mass, radius, and
temperature as our own parent star.
Its giant planet status causes it to gravitationally tug on its parent star so significantly that
it causes the star to “wobble” in its orbit.
This phenomena allows us to determine that, even though this exoplanet is as large as
Jupiter, it’s only half of Jupiter’s mass.
Additionally, Wasp-96b's tight orbit and spectral properties make it an important target for
future studies.
You may have thought about what lurks behind the clouds of our Solar System's gas giants,
such as Jupiter.
Of course, we can't see it since Jupiter's clouds are in the way.
However, for WASP-96b, the lack of clouds allows us to observe what resides deep within
a gas giant's atmosphere, and for the first time, we have an answer: water.
Wow, there's a lot of water in the atmosphere of this exoplanet!
We had previously observed the presence of sodium, which is still present, but only because
we were limited to wavelengths that we could have previously noticed.
At longer wavelengths, however, water molecules excite and de-excite with a distinct signature,
and JWST is the first telescope capable of extracting a spectrum with water's distinctive
characteristics imprinted on it.
It's there, it's copious, and it's just the beginning; perhaps in a few years, we'll find
out if other gas giants, including our own, are as water-rich as WASP-96b.
4-) Stephan’s Quintet
Stephan's Quintet is a group of five galaxies that were discovered in 1877 by Édouard Stephan.
It is the first compact group of galaxies to be discovered and is located 290 million
light-years away from Earth.
The group consists of two galaxies in the process of merging, flanked by two other galaxies
that are also gravitationally interacting with each other.
The fifth galaxy in the group is a spiral galaxy that is unrelated to the other four
galaxies.
It just happens to be located along the same line-of-sight as the other four galaxies,
but it is only 40 million light-years away from Earth.
Stephan's Quintet is an important example of how gravitational interactions can affect
the evolution of galaxies.
In these never before seen images by the James Webb Space Telescope, these galaxies are engaged
in a cosmic dance, with four of them caught up in a close embrace.
The new images show never-before-seen details, including clusters of millions of young stars,
starburst regions of fresh star birth, and sweeping tails of gas, dust and stars being
pulled from several of the galaxies due to gravitational interactions.
Most dramatically, Webb captures huge shock waves as one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B, smashes
through the cluster.
These new images offer insights into the dynamics of galaxy interactions and the role they play
in the evolution of galaxies.
This closeness gives researchers a front-row seat to the merger and interactions between
galaxies that are so important to galaxy evolution.
Scientists seldom see in such detail how interacting galaxies stimulate star formation in one another,
and how the gas in these galaxies is disrupted.
Stephan's Quintet is an excellent "laboratory" for examining these fundamental dynamics of
galaxies.
5-) The Southern Ring Nebula
The Southern Ring Nebula was imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The image showed the central star of the nebula, which is in the process of dying.
The star is at the end of its helium-fusion stage, and is in the process of contracting
and heating up.
The star will eventually reach the point where it can fuse the products of the previous fusion
reaction, but most stars, including both the Sun and the star that's giving rise to the
Southern Ring Nebula, will never make it past this stage.
When a Sun-like star dies, it does so in a striking fashion.
First, it gently blows off its outer layers, creating a gas-rich pre-planetary nebula.
The star's core then compresses until it is no larger than Earth, while having nearly
a whole solar mass of material.
This contraction leads the star remnant, which becomes a white dwarf, to heat up, ionize,
and blast forth the material that was previously present on the outskirts.
But with Webb’s powerful capabilities we can see the detailed structure of this nebula.
James Webb's photos of the Southern Ring Nebula reveal some intriguing details.
To begin with, this isn't a single, isolated star like our Sun, but rather a component
of a binary system.
JWST's infrared eyes have exposed both components for the first time: it truly is a binary system.
Second, if you look at the nebula's outskirts (on the left), you'll see a tendril-like structure;
this was discovered to be a background, edge-on spiral galaxy that just happens to coincide
with the nebula's outskirts on the sky.
(There's also another face-on galaxy closer to the nebula.)
Temperatures fluctuate throughout the nebula as well, since various wavelengths of light
are lighted up with varying brightnesses by areas of varying temperatures.
The nebula's core is the warmest because it includes the most active stars, which generate
more blue and ultraviolet light.
Cooler stars near the outskirts release more red and infrared radiation.
The various hues in the picture correspond to the various wavelength ranges collected
by JWST's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) (MIRI).
The image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows this process in stunning detail.
The Southern Ring Nebula is a beautiful example of the death of a star, and an important reminder
of the cycle of life in our Universe.
These initial images are just the beginning of what promises to be an incredibly productive
mission for JWST.
In the coming years, the telescope will continue to provide us with groundbreaking insights
into the nature of the cosmos.
The JWST team was thrilled to share these historic First Light and Early Science observations
with the world.
These images offer a glimpse into the kind of discoveries that await us as we explore
the Universe with this powerful new tool.
The JWST will continue to dazzle us with its extraordinary insights into the Universe in
the months and years to come.
So what is your favorite image among these first new images?
And don’t forget this is just the tip of the iceberg.
And don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel for more exciting updates and
images from the James Webb Telescope.