Webb's First Images Gallery

Webb’s first images were released on July 12th. After decades of construction, a nail-biting launch on Christmas day, and six months in space getting focused to perfection, we’re finally ready to see the Universe!

The edge of the Carina Nebula – a cloud of dense Hydrogen gas that is forming stars.

Stellar Birth - Carina Nebula

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When a star like our sun reaches the end of its life it will swell up and contract down over and over. Each time this happens it allows some of the outer layers to escape into space. These layers leave behind a planetary nebula, with a small, hot leftover core called a white dwarf. This planetary nebula is called the southern ring, and Webb has already discovered that inside actually lives not one but two stars – a binary system.

Stellar Death - Southern Ring

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Stephan’s Quintet is a set of five galaxies. The leftmost one is actually in the foreground, and the other 4 are very close together. So close that they are what we call “interacting” – they are pulling on each other, with the two center right actually merging into one galaxy. These interactions cause lots of stars to be formed, as the gas they are made out of is churned around.

Interacting Galaxies - Stephan’s Quintet

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The six pointed stars in this image are foreground stars. Every other object is a galaxy, home to up to 100 billion stars. The yellowy, blue galaxies in the foreground are in a cluster called SMACS 0723, almost six billion light years away. The more red galaxies are behind the cluster, the most distant being seen as they were only 700 million years after the big bang. The galaxy cluster is able to bend light, magnifying and stretching the background, which lets us see even more detail – even if they do look like they’ve been in a funhouse mirror.
Webb’s First Deep Field – SMACS 0723
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WASP 96b is a planet orbiting around a star about 1100 lightyears from Earth. It was discovered in 2013. By looking at the parent star, and waiting patiently until the planet passes in front, Webb is able to find out lots about what WASP 96b is like.

Exoplanet Atmosphere – WASP 96b

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Webb has lots of different science aims and will be looking at a huge range of different astronomical objects, from our nearest planetary neighbours to the most distant starlight ever seen.
Explore the links in the text below to discover more!

Otherworlds

Otherworlds

Did you know that our sun isn’t the only star to have planets orbiting it? Astronomers (like Beth and Naomi) call these exoplanets. Webb will study the atmospheres of hundreds of exoplanets and look at the gas giants of our Solar System in unparalleled detail. Image credit: Marois et al (2010).

Forming Stars

Forming Stars

New stars are forming constantly. Webb will help us understand how new stars form by piercing through the thick clouds of gas and dust surrounding them to see their first moments of life. Image Credit: ALMAscience

A Cosmic Draw

Galaxies

Galaxies are groups of billions of stars and they come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, from smooth ball-like elliptical galaxies to flat disks with spiral arms. Webb will explore the variety of galaxies and how they interact with each other. Image credit: Hubble ESA/NASA

Early Universe

Early Universe

Webb will allow us to see further than ever before, to over 12.5 billion years into the past, to when the very first stars were forming. Are these stars different to ones which form today? Webb will help us find out. Image Credit NASA/ESA

Which of Webb’s explorations are you most excited for?

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James Webb
Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas day 2021, and will use incredible technology to explore space as never before. It’s a NASA-led, global project which belongs to all of us, so come have a look!

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