Here’s the first, high-resolution image of the universe from the James Webb Space Telescope
The first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was released tonight by president Joe Biden. There it is, folks: The highest-resolution picture of the universe ever captured—about 13 billion years ago. You can download the full resolution image here.
The $10 billion, tennis-court sized spacecraft that captured this view was built in collaboration with the European and Canadian Space Agencies, and launched on Dec. 25, 2021. It’s the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. After an arduous six-month commissioning process, it’s now ready to do some science.
The JWST’s most important feature is its 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) wide primary mirror, made up of 18 hexagonal segments that were folded tightly together when the telescope was launched. The mirror is the largest ever put in space, nearly three times as large as Hubble’s 7.8 ft (2.4 m) wide mirror, allowing JWST to capture more light and thus more information about the universe.
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