UNITED STATES: The image, which contains light from galaxies that have taken many billions of years to reach us, is thought to be the most profound, most precise infrared vision of the Universe to date. The scale of Webb’s view in this photograph is comparable to a grain of sand raised to the sky at arm’s length.
The picture was revealed to US President Joe Biden during a White House briefing.
Tuesday’s global presentation by NASA is scheduled to include the release of further James Webb’s debut images.
President Biden said, “These photos will tell the world that America can do tremendous things and remind the American people, especially our children, that there’s nothing beyond our capacity.”
How James Webb is clicking pictures back in time
The group of galaxies you can see is called SMACS 0723 and is located in the Southern Hemisphere constellation of Volans.
The cluster is not that far away; it is “just” 4.6 billion light-years away. But, the enormous mass of this cluster has distorted and enlarged the light from much, much farther away objects.
It is a gravitational effect, which is a telescope’s zoom lens in terms of astronomy.
With the help of its 6.5-meter-wide golden mirror and extremely sensitive infrared detectors, Webb was able to recognise in this image the deformed shape (the red arcs) of galaxies that were just 600 million years old at the time of the Big Bang (the Universe is 13.8 billion years old).
Researchers can infer from the quality of the Webb telescope’s data that it is detecting space well beyond the farthest object in this image.
There is a chance that this is the most profound cosmic snap ever attained as a result.
For life to exist, WASP-96 b orbits its parent star far too closely. However, it is hoped that one day Webb will discover a planet with atmospheric gases similar to those that envelop the Earth. This tantalising possibility could suggest the existence of biology. Scientists at NASA are confident that Webb will deliver on its promise.
Also Read: NASA Releases List of Dazzling Celestial Objects for Webb Telescope’s Debut Images
