The first full-color image from the new James Webb Space Telescope did not disappoint. The image, which was unveiled by President Joe Biden, is the most detailed infrared view of the Universe to date, containing light from galaxies that took many billions of years to reach us.
" These images will remind the world that America can do great things and will remind the American people - especially our children - that there is nothing beyond our capacity," President Biden noted.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that the visible part of the universe to humans is like holding a grain of sand at arm's length.
" Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and that light you're seeing in one of those tiny specks has been traveling for over 13 billion years. There is one more thing you will find with this telescope. to be precise, you will see whether or not they are planets – we will be able to determine whether those planets are habitable. We will be able to answer questions that we have not yet formulated. This is what is happening. "
The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched on December 25 last year, has been billed as the successor to the famous Hubble Space Telescope.
It will do all kinds of sky observations, but it has two main purposes. One is to take pictures of the first stars that shone in the Universe more than 13.5 billion years ago; the other is to investigate distant planets to see if they might be habitable.
The image released to President Biden demonstrated Webb's capabilities to pursue the first of these targets.
