{"id":48715,"date":"2023-08-22T13:01:33","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T13:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/a7543249-6396-47d8-a336-70e1ae5a2606"},"modified":"2023-08-24T11:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T11:30:00","slug":"nasa-james-webb-space-telescopes-latest-images","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/nasa-james-webb-space-telescopes-latest-images\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA James Webb Space Telescope’s latest images"},"content":{"rendered":"

See the latest full colour images to be released by the JWST. <\/p>

By Govert Schilling\n <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 22 August 2023 at 13:01 PM<\/p>

\n\n

NASA James Webb Space Telescope’s latest images<\/h1>

After 25 years and over 10 billion US dollars, on Christmas Day 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was finally launched into space by a European Ariane 5 rocket.<\/p>

With its 6.5-metre primary mirror and its tennis-court-sized sunshield, Webb had to be folded up to fit in the rocket\u2019s fairing, only to be deployed step by step in the first two weeks of its mission.<\/p>

On 12 July 2022, months of eager anticipation paid off, as NASA released the first full colour images of the cosmos captured by the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a>.<\/p>

Find out how James Webb Space Telescope will study galaxies<\/a>, and how James Webb Space Telescope will study exoplanets<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

The Ring Nebula<\/strong><\/h2>

In August 2023 the James Webb Space Telescope released this spectacular image of the Ring Nebula.<\/p>

The Ring Nebula<\/a> is a favourite target for astrophotographers and observers alike, due to its striking appearance.<\/p>

Read more about Webb’s Ring Nebula image<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A split view of the Ring Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The image on the left shows Webb\u2019s NIRCam view and the image on the right shows Webb\u2019s MIRI image. Credit: ESA\/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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A view of the Ring Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument). Credit: ESA\/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Webb celebrated its first year of science operations with this view of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.<\/p>

The Rho Ophiuchi complex is the closest star-forming region to Earth, at ‘just’ 390 lightyears away.<\/p>

Get the full story on Webb’s Rho Ophiuchi image<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Saturn<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Tiscareno (SETI Institute), M. Hedman (University of Idaho), M. El Moutamid (Cornell University), M. Showalter (SETI Institute), L. Fletcher (University of Leicester), H. Hammel (AURA); image processing by J. DePasquale (STScI).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 25 June 2023, Webb captured this amazing image of Saturn, showing its moons Dione, Enceladus and Tethys, along with its rings.<\/p>

For the full story, read our guide to the Webb image of Saturn<\/a>.<\/p>

Cassiopeia A<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Tea Temim (Princeton University), Ilse De Looze (UGent). Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is Cassiopeia A, a supernova remnant located 11,000 lightyears away that spans 10 lightyears across.<\/p>

The Webb image contains all the chaos and beauty you would expect from the remnants of an exploded star, including cosmic material glowing orange and red due to emission from warm dust.<\/p>

In these areas, material ejected by the exploded star has smashed into the surrounding material.<\/p>

The knotted filaments that appear pink in the image are material from the star itself, shining due to the presence of heavy elements and dust emission.<\/p>

Uranus (2023)<\/h2>\n
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Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This image of Uranus was captured by the James Webb Space Telescope on 6 February 2023 and shows an amazing view of the planet’s ring.<\/p>

The bright region on the right side of the planet is Uranus’s polar cap, which is unique to Uranus because it is the only planet in the Solar System that’s tilted on its side, causing extreme seasonal changes.<\/p>

Pandora’s Cluster<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A James Webb Space Telescope image of Pandora’s Cluster, showing gravitational lensing. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, I. Labbe (Swinburne University of Technology), R. Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh), A. Pagan (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The latest deep-field image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope shows a region in deep space known as Pandora’s Cluster, or Abell 2744.<\/p>

It reveals the intricate structures of three galaxy clusters<\/a> – together forming a so-called ‘megacluster’ – in detail never seen before by astronomers.<\/p>

The image of Pandora’s Cluster is a panoramic composed of four individual JWST images sewn together.<\/p>

One noteworthy feature of the image is that it displays gravitational lensing<\/a>, where the mass of the galaxy clusters is warping and distorting the light from more distant galaxies.<\/p>

In this way, the galaxy megacluster is acting like a cosmic magnifying glass, enabling astronomers to see the distant galaxies more clearly.<\/p>

Find out more in our story about the Webb Telescope’s image of Pandora’s Cluster<\/a>.<\/p>

Webb Telescope’s image of distant galaxies<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Credit: Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, Rolf A. Jansen (ASU), Jake Summers (ASU), Rosalia O’Brien (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Aaron Robotham (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Christopher Willmer (University of Arizona), JWST PEARLS TeamImage Processing: Rolf A. Jansen (ASU), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope shows 1000s of distant galaxies and covers an area of the sky just 2% of the area covered by the full Moon.<\/p>

The faintest objects in the image are about 1 billion times fainter than what can be seen with the naked eye.<\/p>

This is referred to as a ‘medium-deep wide-field’ image.<\/p>

Light from the most distant galaxies has traveled almost 13.5 billion years to reach us.<\/p>

Read more about Webb’s PEARLS galaxies image<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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A medium-deep wide-field image showing thousands of galaxies, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.\nCredit: Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, Rolf A. Jansen (ASU), Jake Summers (ASU), Rosalia O’Brien (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Aaron Robotham (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Christopher Willmer (University of Arizona), JWST PEARLS Team\nImage Processing: Rolf A. Jansen (ASU), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Webb’s cosmic hourglass image<\/strong><\/h2>

JWST’s latest image is of a protostar embedded within an hourglass-shaped cosmic cloud<\/p>

The star is just 100,000 years old and thought to be in the earliest stages of star formation.<\/p>\n

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An image of protostar L1527 at the centre of billowing clouds of cosmic gas and dust, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once hidden from sight within dark cloud L1527, the features of this protostar are revealed Webb\u2019s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).<\/p>

The protostar is still a long way from becoming a fully-fledged star, and as a result it is not yet undergoing nuclear fusion of hydrogen.<\/p>

This disk seen as a grey streak at the centre of the image is about the size of our own Solar System.<\/p>

Perhaps Webb has offered us a glimpse of what our own Sun must have looked like in its infancy.<\/p>

Find out more about Webb’s image of L1527<\/a><\/p>

Webb’s Pillars of Creation<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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James Webb Space Telescope’s image of the Pillars of Creation. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 2022, NASA released this incredible JWST image of the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming region in the Eagle Nebula<\/a> that contains dense pillars of cosmic dust and gas.<\/p>

The image calls to mind the Hubble Space Telescope image of the Pillars of Creation<\/a> – perhaps Hubble’s most famous image – and is further evidence of just what the Webb Telescope can achieve.<\/p>

Find out more about this incredible image in our guide to the Webb Telescope’s image of the Pillars of Creation<\/a>.<\/p>

Webb’s image of Wolf-Rayet 140<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Shells of cosmic dust created by the interaction of binary stars appear like tree rings around Wolf-Rayet 140, as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NASA-JPL, Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In mid-October the James Webb team released an image captured by the telescope showing a binary star called Wolf-Rayet 140<\/p>

Also seen in the image are shells of cosmic dust being ejected from the binary system out into space.<\/p>

At least 17 rings can be seen in the image. These are shells of dust formed as the orbiting binary stars<\/a> pass close by one another.<\/p>

Each close orbital pass causes their stellar winds – streams of particles emanating from the stars – to interact, ejecting the shells out into space.<\/p>

Read more in our news story about the Webb Telescope’s image of binary star Wolf-Rayet 140<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Webb’s image of Neptune and its rings<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A view of Neptune, its rings and moons captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, 12 July 2022. Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, processed by Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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A view of Neptune, its rings, moons and large moon Triton captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, 12 July 2022. Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, processed by Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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An annotated view of Neptune, its rings, moons and large moon Triton captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, 12 July 2022. Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, processed by Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>