The largest and most powerful observatory ever sent into space will release its first full-color images today and tomorrow. The beginning of scientific operations for the mission that could fundamentally change our understanding of the Universe is a major moment for the telescope.
The largest mirror we have ever sent into space spans more than 21 feet A type of light invisible to the human eye that can travel incredibly long distances is what the mirror is meant to gather. The telescope should be able to peer into the deepest parts of the universe, picking up light from the first stars and galaxies after the Bigbang.
It’s been a particularly long road getting to this point
The road to this point has been a long one. The journey of the JWST has been marked by delays for the past two and a half decades. The budget has ballooned and controversy has swirled around it. The telescope launched as planned on Christmas Day in 2011. Over the last six months, scientists and engineers have meticulously deployed, aligned, and adjusted the telescope, getting it ready for the first images taken by the telescope.
The first year of studying the universe will be packed with observations from scientists around the world. These pictures are just a glimpse of what's to come.
The White House is starting today. NASA had been planning to release the images all at once on the morning of July 12th, but over the weekend they added a White House briefing to the mix. The images will be revealed by President Joe Biden and NASA administrator Bill Nelson.
New York: 5PM, San Francisco: 2PM, London: 10PM, Berlin: 11PM, Moscow: 12AM, New Delhi: 2:30AM.
The rest of the images will be rolled out on July 12. The opening remarks will be made by the leadership at NASA. At 10:30AM, NASA should reveal the remaining images during a live broadcast, which will be followed by a media press conference at NASA. If you want to see the rest of the images, you should tune in at 10:30 AM.
New York: 10:30AM, San Francisco: 7:30AM, London: 3:30PM, Berlin: 4:30PM, Moscow: 5:30PM, New Delhi: 8:00PM, Beijing: 10:30PM.
NASA will provide live coverage on its dedicated channels, which can be found on its website and on the internet. The release will be broadcasted on NASA's app, as well as on NASA's social channels.
For a long time, we have been covering the launch of JWST. Some of our previous coverage can be found here.
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