James Webb Telescope delivers beautiful photos of the Carina Nebula

NASA has released the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. There are amazing things to see – because they are the sharpest infrared images of the early Universe and thus a stunning glimpse into the past. After the premiere, showcasing the telescope’s first image in a celebratory round with US President Joe Biden, NASA is now showing incredibly sharp, colorful, and high-contrast images of the first-star target. The first pair of images shows the edge of the nearby young star-forming region “NGC 3324” in the Carina Nebula. According to the scientists, the recordings reveal previously obscured regions of star formation

Also known as the Cosmic Cliffs, this region is the edge of the star-forming region about 7,600 light-years away. You have the impression of looking at a rugged mountain landscape, with colored mists and a dramatic impression. Reference images for color determination have been published for this purpose.

Look behind the dust clouds

The infrared technology of the new telescope penetrates the cosmic dust clouds, allowing a “behind the scenes” look – this was not possible before. The scientists are now celebrating the first recordings all the more. Until now, scientists had little data on the influence of the many young and energetic bright stars, but the new images are now changing that.

The James Webb Space Telescope is now revealing stellar nurseries, quickly forgetting all the initial difficulties of the construction and launch phase of the Hubble successor. With the new capabilities of the James Webb telescope, scientists hope to gain insight into the times of the Big Bang. NASA chief Bill Nelson said, “This is just the first image. The images go back 13.5 billion years. And since we know the universe is 13.8 billion years old, we’re almost going back to the beginning.”