James-Webb, the new telescope launched into space

The largest and most expensive space telescope launched into space. It is designed to continue the work of the Hubble Space Telescope, however performing its observations at longer wavelengths. The launch was in December 2021.

Today the Hubble Space Telescope released the first quality image. It shows a region of the deep Universe as it was 4.6 billion years ago! More specifically, it is the galaxy cluster Smacs 0723, in the center, which has been highlighted.

It makes it possible to observe objects located in the background thanks to a gravitational lensing effect: the light coming from behind it is distorted, and amplified. This image required an accumulation of nearly 13 hours of exposure, and corresponds to a composite made from several images taken at different wavelengths.

This isn't the first time this cluster of galaxies and the stars behind it have been photographed: Hubble captured it too. Find more information and photos released on the NASA website: https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

 © NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI