Joy of discovery: How Webb telescope expands world’s sense of wonder
Never before has humanity seen the cosmos like this.
Diamond-like stars dazzle in the foreground. Gas and dust billow out from cosmic collisions appearing to set the sky ablaze in rusty red tones. There are spiral galaxies, galaxies warped like pizza dough thrown in the air, merging galaxies, and galaxies appearing as faint red smudges so deep in the background that astronomers say the image captures the light they emitted perhaps 13.1 billion years ago.
The first images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) were released by NASA this week, revealing the most detailed view of the deepest parts of our universe yet and heralding a new era of astronomy. With its infrared “eyes,” the new space telescope has unveiled some of the earliest moments of the universe’s existence. This expanded view promises to reveal vital clues to cosmic mysteries that have long puzzled scientists.
In the excitement over this initial burst of images from the JWST,
