Look up at the sky on a clear night and the twinkling expanse of stars can be quite breath-taking.
Here we are on this one particular planet, one part of this one particular star system,
but there’s so, so much more that’s out there.
And now, more than ever, science is determined to see it all.
This is Unveiled, and today we’re taking a closer look at the first ever images released
by NASA from the James Webb Space Telescope.
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Few space missions in recent times have garnered quite as much interest as the James Webb Space
Telescope.
Billed as the next generation follow up to the Hubble, the Webb has been talked up all
over the world by excited and expectant astronomers.
It was launched on Christmas Day, December 25th, 2021… and, as we found out in another
recent video, its journey so far has been success after success.
A problem-free launch was followed by a weeks-long journey to the L2 Lagrange point, around a
million miles away from Earth.
The spectacular, tennis court-sized sunshield was also unfolded seemingly without even the
hint of a hiccup… and, in the months since, the Webb team has been testing, tweaking,
and trialing all the many scientific instruments on board, to make sure that everything works
just as it should do.
With, again, no major issues reported so far.
As impressive as all of this is, however, the world has been patiently waiting to actually
see something of note produced by the Webb.
We’ve long been told what it's going to be capable of, only without the shots to back
it up.
But now, that’s exactly what we have.
Webb’s First Deep Field – i.e., its first operational image ever released – was revealed
to the public by NASA on July 11th, 2022.
A composite image, it was taken by Webb’s Near Infrared Camera, and has been widely
described as the oldest, deepest, and highest resolution image ever taken of the universe.
But what does it actually show?
At first glance, we see a splurge of bright lights against the deep black backdrop of
space.
Every light is unique, however, with different levels of brightness, different colors and
shapes, and with some parts that are especially full of light…
while others are not so much.
Each of these lights, though, is a galaxy, and what we’re seeing of them is actually
as they were billions of years ago.
Ultimately, the Webb is so powerful that it can (and will) capture the light of the universe
as it was almost at the very beginning of all things – more than 13 billion years
ago – and the first images are kind of like a taster of what’s possible.
With a stream of more images (some looking even deeper into space than this one) promised
from here on out.
And commentators all around the globe have variously emphasized just how amazing this
is.
The galaxy cluster shown in Webb’s First Deep Field is known as SMACS 0723.
It features thousands of galactic structures, many of which we’re seeing (in any capacity)
for the very first time.
This particular area of space has been studied before – including by the Hubble – but
many of the images of the past have shown it as though it were just one combined structure.
One source of light.
But, while scientists have long known that that’s not really the case, this image is
the first to truly illustrate all of the cluster’s smaller parts.
Even past infrared shots haven’t managed to achieve such incredible clarity before.
In some ways, it’s like looking at an everyday object just on Earth, and then suddenly seeing
the atoms that make that object up.
The detail we’re seeing here is completely unprecedented.
Another mind-boggling aspect of the image is the realization of just how much (or how
little) of the universe it is that we’re really looking at.
At first glance, you might assume that what’s being shown is a sizeable portion of the sky…
but no.
Not by any stretch of the imagination.
There certainly is a lot going on here, but really it’s a tiny, tiny, miniscule piece
of the universe as a whole.
According to NASA, “Webb’s image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a
grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground”.
It’s a “tiny sliver of vast universe”.
And yet it’s so full of light and matter and energy.
So often, we speak of the incredible, almost unimaginable scale of the universe…
but the Webb is the first facility to really show that scale in a fresh way.
Imagine mapping the universe with grains of sand held at arm’s length…
it would be a totally impractical and impossible exercise, but now we can at least begin to
visualize what each of those grains would represent.
Thousands of galaxies behind each one… with each of those galaxies carrying billions of
stars, planets, moons, asteroids, and objects.
It perhaps doesn’t feel like it, given the massive limitations of human sight compared
to the astounding power of Webb, but we can now truly appreciate that whenever we look
up at the sky, in any direction, we’re also looking out at a phenomenal density of other
worlds.
And remember, this is just the beginning.
There are many more images promised by the team running Webb.
And, just a day after the First Deep Field was released, a slew of further visuals were
also made public.
For scientists, astronomers, and anyone with even a passing interest in space, it’s as
though we’ve suddenly been given new eyes.
It’s not that what we knew before was wrong, it’s just that we can now know it better.
The general idea of space will never be the same again, such is the impact that these
images have already had.
Indeed, with the unveiling of the first composite being an official White House event, President
Joe Biden spoke of the “unfathomable” nature of the achievement.
So, where do we go from here?
The Webb will systematically update our maps of the universe into high-definition visual
feasts.
And science will be able to catalog space on a level never seen before.
From the outset, the Webb has had four main goals: to find light from the first stars
and galaxies after the Big Bang; to uncover the nature of galaxy formation in detail;
to improve and specialize our understanding of star and planet formation; and to search
even the most distant systems for signs of life.
It’s long been predicted that Webb will give us a much better grasp of habitable worlds,
and the first images certainly haven’t dulled that hope.
In fact, there’s now perhaps more excitement surrounding Webb than there ever has been,
so successful has it proven until this point.
For so long, the universe has been a near-total mystery to us.
Our knowledge of it has been guided by theories, estimates and projections.
But now, we’re filling in the blanks to a major degree… and lifting the veil to
replace mystery with comprehension.
To stare into the heart of space and really understand what it is that we’re seeing.
What’s your verdict on the first Webb images?
What do you want to see in the images of the future?
And what do you think the wider applications for them could be?
Right now, there’s a reported rush on between scientists and astronomers to book time to
work directly with the telescope itself.
As such, we can expect to have plenty of in-depth studies published over the coming years, which
will likely lead to many more cosmological breakthroughs.
Might there be implications for the search for alien life?
Or for future space travel?
The aim is to “get to know” planets, stars, and galaxies better than we’ve ever done
before.
The team behind Webb even foresee the telescope one day soon answering questions that we haven’t
even formulated yet.
It’s as though this fantastic machine is lighting the way along a path that’s also
only just being laid out before us.
We’re seemingly, then, on the brink of a monumental change and an extremely exciting
future.
A revolution for space research and a massive shift in terms of our perspective as a species,
regarding our own place within it.
We’ve known for decades that the universe is huge… and that our galaxy, the Milky
Way, is just one tiny part of something far, far greater.
But has that point ever been more clearly shown than right now?
Because that’s the new reality we’re living in following the release of the first ever
images by the James Webb Space Telescope.
What do you think?
Is there anything we missed?
Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
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