The James Webb space telescope, a $10 billion  observatory that successfully launched into  

space on Christmas Day last year. Ever since  it launched, the world has been waiting to  

see its first images, images that according to  NASA, will deliver us a new view of the cosmos.

Although we have still got a few months  to wait until we start to see these  

unprecedented views, recently, NASA released  Webb's first "in focus" image of a single  

bright star captured as part  of a mirror alignment process.  

But in the background of this image, if you  look carefully, you will see something even  

more interesting, a "taster", if you like, of  what this extraordinary telescope is capable of.

While some of the largest ground based telescopes  on Earth use segmented primary mirrors, Webb is  

the first telescope in space to use this design.  The 21 foot or 6.5 metre gold covered mirror was  

far too big to fit inside of a rocket fairing,  however, and so it had to be folded up for launch.

After Webb successfully made it into space,  the 18 hexagonal beryllium mirror segments that  

make up the primary mirror then unfolded,  but for the telescope to work properly,  

all of these segments have to be  aligned with extraordinary precision.

Aligning each segment into one smooth  reflecting surface was one of the most  

important tasks the Webb control team had  to tackle since the telescope launched. 

According to NASA's recent news conference,  however, the primary mirror is now fully  

aligned within a fraction of the width of a human  hair and performing even better than expected.

Although many other alignment steps and tests need  completing before Webb ultimately delivers its new  

view of the cosmos, this fully focused image  is the highest resolution infrared image ever  

taken from space, providing us with a  tiny glimpse of how powerful Webb is.

The star at the centre is called 2MASS  J17554042+6551277, and although it is the  

brightest thing in the image, emanating streams  of light across the universe, it is nothing  

particularly special. It is just a generic,  anonymous star with the right level of brightness  

used to make sure that the mirror alignment  is precise enough. A test star if you like.

It's what is surrounding the star that  is interesting. The spray of tiny dots,  

scattered across the background.  Because these specks are distant  

galaxies billions of light years away  that have never been observed before.

These mysterious, distant galaxies make this  crystal clear image a so called deep field image,  

which is an image that has captured the most  distant objects in the universe. The Hubble  

space telescope required days, sometimes weeks  to obtain some of its most famous deep fields,  

such as this one. Whereas Webb will be able  to accomplish the same results in just hours.

The James Webb space telescope is designed  to be 100 times more sensitive than Hubble,  

but the two observatories do not image in  the same wavelengths. Hubble is an expert  

in mainly visible and ultraviolet radiation,  while Webb operates in the realms of infrared.

It's important to remember,  however, that this is only a  

test image. The glorious vistas, such as  those captured by Hubble over the last  

30 years or so will come later, once  the observatory is fully operational.  

But even though it is a test, it represents the  beginning of what we will soon be observing.

The James Webb space telescope  will allow us to peer back in time  

and capture the first galaxies that formed only  a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.  

Potentially transforming our understanding  of the cosmos. And I for one, cannot wait.

Thank you all so much for watching. I hope you  enjoyed the video, if you did, please tap the  

like button and subscribe. It really helps to  support my channel. If you want to explore the  

universe even more then why not check out this  video, where we fly faster than the speed of light  

into the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. Thanks  again for watching and I'll see you next time.