Agencies-Gaza post
First full-colour image by James Webb telescope
The first full-colour image from the new James Webb Space Telescope has launched, and it doesn’t disappoint.
The picture is asserted to be the deepest, most detailed infrared view of the Universe to date, containing the light from galaxies that has taken many billions of years to reach us.
US President Joe Biden was shown the picture during a White House briefing.
Further debut images from James Webb are due to be released by Nasa in a global presentation on Tuesday.
“These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things, and remind the American people – especially our children – that there’s nothing beyond our capacity,” President Biden said.
“We can see possibilities no-one has ever seen before. We can go places no-one has ever gone before.”
The $10bn James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched on 25 December last year, is billed as the successor to the famous Hubble Space Telescope.
It will make all sorts of observations of the sky, but has two overarching goals. One is to take pictures of the very first stars to shine in the Universe more than 13.5 billion years ago; the other is to probe far-off planets to see if they might be habitable.
The picture unveiled before President Biden showcases Webb’s capabilities to pursue the first of these objectives.
