 It's been one year since Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope started beaming incredible images from the depths of the universe back to Earth. Since then, Webb has discovered some of the earliest galaxies ever observed, delivered the most detailed view of the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system, and captured new views of planets within our solar system. The £8.4 billion instrument, which is Nasa's largest and most powerful, is also the most complex space telescope ever built. Launched on Christmas Day in 2021, the telescope reached its final destination in space, the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, in January 2022. Since then, it has been observing the universe in infrared light, revealing new details about everything from the earliest galaxies to exoplanets. Webb's first full-colour images were released July 12, 2022, marking the beginning of the observatory's science mission. The much-awaited debut picture from Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope was unveiled by Joe Biden and Nasa chief Bill Nelson last year. The image showed, in incredible detail, a 4.6 billion-year-old galaxy cluster called SMACS 0723 for the first time. These are just a few of the many amazing discoveries that have been made by JWST in its first year. The first image taken by JWST showed a galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723. The cluster's gravity is bending the light from the galaxies behind it, creating a magnified and distorted view. This image is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever taken (Picture: Nasa) This image is of the Carina Nebula, a stellar nursery where new stars are being born. The image reveals previously unseen details of the nebula, including new stars and protostars (Picture: Nasa) The Stephan's Quintet image is a mosaic of images taken by the JWST of a group of five galaxies located about 290 million){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
It’s been one year since Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope started beaming incredible images from the depths of the universe back to Earth.
Since then, Webb has discovered some of the earliest galaxies ever observed, delivered the most detailed view of the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system, and captured new views of planets within our solar system.
The £8.4 billion instrument, which is Nasa’s largest and most powerful, is also the most complex space telescope ever built.
Launched on Christmas Day in 2021, the telescope reached its final destination in space, the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, in January 2022.