The first images of the Webb telescope are a revolution: dying stars, colliding galaxies and a photo from 4.6 billion years ago

After months of preparation in space, the James Webb Telescope is now operational. And what it shows us has left scientists speechless.

A few days ago, the deputy administrator of NASA, Pam Melroy, said that some of the astronomers who witnessed the first photos captured by the James Webb TelescopeThey couldn’t hold back their tears.

To the layman, the images you’ll see here may just look like more beautiful and detailed photos of space than usual. But for scientists It’s like going from the binoculars to the telescope. How to get cataract surgery

It is such a great scientific revolution that yesterday, Monday, it was the very president of the United States, Joe Biden, who presented the first public image of James Webb: the furthest photo ever captured. The star cluster SMACS 0723, as it was 4.6 billion years:

One of the paradoxes of the universe is that most of the stars we see in the sky are already dead. We do not see the star itself, but its light, and since they are so far away, their light reaches us millions of years late. That is why many of them are already dead.

What we see in the previous image is a cluster of galaxies as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. Today its composition will be different.

The photo has tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. It will take years to study it thoroughly.

At this first capture, three others followed. The image you can see in the opening photo of the news is the Carina Nebula. Reveals regions of star birth that were previously invisible for the first time. is to 7,600 light years away.

This we have here is another incredible photograph: Stephan’s Quintet. It has been known since the 19th century, but has never been seen in such detail. The original photo has 150 million pixelsand is formed by joining more than 1,000 captures:

In this cluster located about 296 light years millions of young stars are piling up and starburst regions where stars are born. Large tails of gas, dust, and stars are drawn in from several of the galaxies due to gravitational interactions.

The following image is the South Ring Nebula, a dying star surrounded by the layers of gas and dust that it expels when it dies:

We would need 2,000 years traveling at the speed of light to reach it. In spatial terms, it’s just around the corner.

As we say, the magic of the James Webb telescope is that capture infinitely more distant and detailed imageswith which new areas of the universe and hidden details are appreciated, which will produce new scientific revelations in the coming years.

How does the Webb capture these highly detailed photos? The telescope has been jointly built and operated by the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and NASA, and has been in development since 1996. It has cost more than 10,000 million dollars.

One of its key features is the 6.5 meter long mirror, three times larger than Hubble’s. orbit to 1.5 million kilometers from Earthaway from any human interference.

Its optics, and the type of infrared spectrum it observes, different from other telescopes, make it the most powerful and precise “eye” of humanity.

A scientific revolution that in the coming years will give us much joy.