James Webb telescope promises a glimpse of the birth of the universe

It seemed like the wait was worth it. A glimpse of the power of the observatory to peer back in time to when the first stars lit up the universe has been seen with the first colour images.

On Monday, the first colour image was unveiled by President Joe Biden, who noted the significance of the picture. He said that it was an historic moment for America and all of humanity.

It obscures the achievement. The accomplishment of the $10 billion NASA observatory is concrete and substantial. Our view of the heavens has been defined by Hubble for the past 30 years, and now it is time to look at the future with the arrival of the next generation of telescopes.

The image shows the observatory looking back towards the dawn of time. There is a rich cluster of galaxies known as SMACS-0723, which is 5 billion light years away. Astronomers are most excited by the other galaxies in the picture. The intense gravity of the cluster causes it to look like an astronomer's telescope, magnifying light from behind it and revealing the objects behind it. It is the depth and quality of the images that researchers like the most.

The time it took for light from the cluster to reach the mirror was 4.5 billion years ago. There are more distant galaxies in the picture. The earliest period of the universe is expected to be pushed back by more than 13 billion years. Cosmic dawn is the moment when the universe was first bathed in light.

The second lagrange point, or L2, is a spot 1m miles from Earth and is where the performance comes from. The observatory can see a lot of fainter, older galaxies than Hubble can. Astronomers will be able to understand how the first stars and galaxies formed thanks to the images and data.

The early stirrings of the universe will not be the only thing that will be done by the man. More images will be released on Tuesday to show what the telescope can do. The telescope peered at the Carina Nebula, a stellar nursery 7,600 light years away that is home to stars much larger than the sun. There is an enormous cloud of gas surrounding a dying star. Stephan's Quintet is a group of galaxies that are so small that two of them are merging into one.

It's not all about great images. The wavelength of light captured by the telescope is analysed by the instrument. It can show new details about objects that are not visible. A cloudless planet half the size of Jupiter is expected to be shown in the data. The same technique will be used to study the chemical compositions of atmospheres around distant worlds.

Astronomers think they can do all the science they were hoping for with the images received so far. The observatory made it to the launch pad and appears to be operating well. The real work begins now that the waves of relief have ended.