[imagesource: ESA, NASA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems / STScI / ATG medialab]

When the Hubble Space Telescope took a photo of a portion of the universe, it captured almost 13 billion years of history in a single image.

Then came the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a picture of the same region of space, which as Hubble’s successor, managed to capture more depth and detail in comparison.

With the JWST, all that history in the sky just became even more mind-bending.

The Webb Telescope shows us a version of the universe that is chock-a-block with galaxies, some ranging back to an unimaginable time:

The image taken by the JWST compared to one taken by Hubble, of the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723.
It’s s a gravitational lens, showing us the light of galaxies that are far behind the cluster in arcs around it. I tried to orient them the same. LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE. pic.twitter.com/8jphIUHRjn

— Sophia Gad-Nasr (@Astropartigirl) July 11, 2022

Here’s a focused look at the new shot from the Webb:

The blobs, spirals, and flashing lights are all things we’re reasonably familiar with when it comes to images of the universe, but what makes this photo more compelling is that it shows completely new objects, likely never seen before through any telescope.

Launched on December 25 last year, the Webb is capable of more detail thanks to its huge 6,5-metre-wide golden mirror – yes, it is made of actual gold – which is more than twice the size of the Hubble, explains Sky News.

The Webb is also capable of seeing infrared light through its super-sensitive infrared instruments, allowing us to see the universe in unprecedented new detail, further back in space and time than ever before:

The universe has been expanding for 13.8 billion years, meaning the light from the first stars and galaxies has been “stretched” from shorter visible wavelengths to longer infrared ones.

Besides the mind-boggling beauty of it all, it carries a wealth of new data for astronomers, astrophysicists, and cosmologists.

Look at the image’s centre, where you’ll see a warped hint of a spherical-like object traced out by curved and distorted galaxies:

This is a gravitational lens, a natural, if mind-boggling, feature of the universe predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

A huge cluster of galaxies in the centre of the image is so massive that is distorting space, bending the light that travels through it and magnifying the objects behind it.

It is within this gravitational lens that possibly some of the oldest galaxies we’ve ever seen exist.

The James Webb Space Telescope has cost America a whopping $10 billion, per BBC, and will make all sorts of observations of the sky with two overarching goals:

One is to take pictures of the very first stars to shine in the Universe more than 13.5 billion years ago; the other is to probe far-off planets to see if they might be habitable.

This Webb image has pretty much already taken scientists to the very beginning – the universe is around 13,8 billion years old.

For the second goal, Webb has analysed the atmosphere of a giant planet located more than 1 000 light-years from Earth.

Although planet WASP-96b isn’t able to sustain life, Webb might be able to find one that can pretty soon.

The hopes are high.

[sources:bbc&skynews]