A new era in astronomy has begun after years of planning and months in the sky. The first science image from the world's most powerful space telescope shows the universe in a depth never seen before

The vice president said that humans have looked up to the night sky with wonder. We are entering a new phase of discovery. The James Webb Space Telescope allows us to see deeper into space than before and in stunning clarity. NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency contributed to the construction of the telescope.

Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.
This first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground. NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

The farthest image of the distant universe to date is shown in the image. The mass of the cluster is so great that it bends space time and allows us to see even more distant galaxies behind it. As they are so far away, the light is very faint, and these thousands of galaxies are among the faintest objects ever observed in IR.

Unlike telescopes like Hubble which only look in the visible light range, the instruments of the Webb telescope look in theIR. This will allow the telescope to look through opaque targets like clouds of dust to see what lies beneath.

The time it takes for light to travel from these great distances to Earth is similar to looking back in time. The Epoch of Reionization is when the first stars in the universe spread light through the universe for the first time.

In the quest to find the earliest galaxies, deep field images like the one shown above can be used. Similar images will be produced by deep and wide surveys used in the upcomingCOSMOS-Webb program.

The image released today is just a small sample of what will come from the man. A spectrum showing the composition of the atmosphere of an exoplanet will be released tomorrow. How stars are formed, the composition of comets in our solar system, and how the first black holes formed are just some of the topics that will be studied by the telescope in its first year.

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