In a surprise shakeup, President Joe Biden today (July 12) unveiled the first science image released by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), NASA’s next-generation infrared observatory.
The spectacular image, taken by JWST's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is the highest resolution image of the infrared universe ever captured. Made possible thanks to a serendipitous alignment, the image showcases SMACS 0723, a massive galaxy cluster in the foreground that is magnifying and distorting our view of more distant cosmic objects located behind it.
“If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm’s length, that is the part of the universe you're seeing — just one little speck of the universe,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during the announcement. Thanks to a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, where massive collections of galaxies in the foreground serve as magnifying lenses for more distant objects, “we’re looking back more than 13 billion years,” Nelson said. Gravitational lensing allows astronomers to study the most distant galaxies in the universe, those that would otherwise remain beyond the reach of even the most powerful telescopes.
NASA plans to release the four other images and data that comprise JWST’s first set of science observations tomorrow (July 12) at 9:30 A.M. CT. You can watch the image release live below, courtesy of NASA TV.