Space-lovers must be well-familiar with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, worth $10 billion. While the telescope was first released on December 25, 2021, its first set of observatory images was only shown last July, as reported by NBC News.
Its depth and magnitude have enabled it to capture intricacies and go deeper than other telescopes before. Thanks to that, enthusiastic earthlings can enjoy and observe firsthand what the James Webb Space Telescope captured.
As noted by Live Science, here are some of the best captures taken with the James Webb Space Telescope.
The Carina Nebula's Mountains
Cosmic cliffs & a sea of stars. @NASAWebb reveals baby stars in the Carina Nebula, where ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds shape colossal walls of dust and gas. https://t.co/63zxpNDi4I #UnfoldTheUniverse pic.twitter.com/dXCokBAYGQ
— NASA (@NASA) July 12, 2022
According to Live Science, this landscape was one of the first images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. It displays a cosmic painting-like view of the Carina Nebula, stationed at around 7,600 light years away from earth. Surrounded and radiated by several tiny stars, this region is one where star formation is exceptionally active.
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The Southern Ring Nebula
Some stars go out with a bang. In these images of the Southern Ring planetary nebula, @NASAWebb shows a dying star cloaked by dust and layers of light. Explore this star's final performance at https://t.co/63zxpNDi4I #UnfoldTheUniverse. pic.twitter.com/dfzrpvrewQ
— NASA (@NASA) July 12, 2022
Because of its seeming figure-eight proportions, the Southern Ring Nebula is also known as the Eight-Burst Nebula. This nebula is an enormous gaseous cloud whose components were released by a deteriorating star that is around 2,500 light years far. The James Webb Space Telescope captured this sight with two cameras, as Live Science noted. Hence, its gaseous structure was more intricately captured, as seen in the left image. In the right image, another hidden star can also be observed at the center.
The Phantom Galaxy
Feast your eyes on the beautiful spiral structure of the Phantom Galaxy, M74, as seen by Webb in the mid-infrared. Delicate filaments of dust and gas wind outwards from the center of the galaxy, which has a ring of star formation around its nucleus. https://t.co/pPVvxsC6KA pic.twitter.com/JQ2C9Wf19f
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) August 30, 2022
While its visuals seem to mirror the top-view of a tornado, the mysterious Phantom Galaxy spins around outer space about 32 million light years away from earth. Because of its intricate and defined spiral figure, scientists have also dubbed it the Grand Design Spiral, as reported by Live Science.
The Rings of Neptune
Hey Neptune. Did you ring? 👋
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) September 21, 2022
Webb’s latest image is the clearest look at Neptune's rings in 30+ years, and our first time seeing them in infrared light. Take in Webb's ghostly, ethereal views of the planet and its dust bands, rings and moons: https://t.co/Jd09henF1F #IAC2022 pic.twitter.com/17QNXj23ow
While most children know that Saturn has its planetary rings, this James Webb Space Telescope capture shows that Neptune has interesting ghostly rings. Based on Live Science's report, Neptune is armed with five loops of icy dust particles. These rings are barely visible because of Neptune's positioning at the solar system's distant end.
The Pillars of Creation
See the Pillars of Creation like never before!
— NASA (@NASA) October 19, 2022
First made famous by @NASAHubble in 1995, @NASAWebb revisited this iconic part of the Eagle Nebula, revealing new details and hidden stars: https://t.co/Wkf0XXHTqh pic.twitter.com/JywEHyX1Bq
Ever since they were first observed by the Hubble Space Telescope last 1995, the Pillars of Creation have become a prominent landmark across the Milky Way. The Pillars of Creation is a large sculpture of dust and gas stationed in the Eagle Nebula and around 6,500 light years away from earth. According to Live Science, this intricate capture from the James Webb Space Telescope can be a springboard for scientists to unveil more discoveries about the birth of stars and how stars affect their surrounding space.
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