Even the Webb telescope’s engineering test images manage to wow

The public release of the first science images from the James Webb Space Telescope is just five days away, and anticipation is high. It's time for the $10 billion to be paid off.

There are early indications that it will happen.

NASA released a "test" image from the telescope that suggests the upcoming scientific images and data will be amazing. The release of the test photo, which NASA casually says is among the deepest images of the Universe ever taken, almost feels like a flex because it is so good for a throw away engineering image.

During a week-long stability test, the space agency collected the image in May. This instrument was built by the Canadian Space Agency.

NASA said that the engineering test image has some rough-around-the-edges qualities. The data was taken to test the ability of the telescope to stay locked onto a target, but it does hint at the power of the telescope. It has some of the same views as the one that was produced during its post launch preparations. There are six, long, sharply defined diffraction spikes in bright stars. The background is filled with galaxies.

Most of the objects in this image are far away. Astronomers want to study these types of galaxies because they will reveal information about the early Universe. The image doesn't use color filters that allow astronomy to assess the age of the galaxies in the image, but it does show the structure of distant galaxies.

The stability test was a success, and as a result, all of its scientific instruments are now working. The fruits of these labors will be visible in a few days.