Gallery: Incredible images from James Webb's first year in space

By Michael Irving

December 30, 2022

Some of the highlights – top left: the Southern Ring planetary nebula in near- and mid-infrared, the product of a dying star; top right: star formation in the Carina Nebula; bottom left: Stephan’s Quintet, an interacting galaxy group; bottom right: Webb’s first deep field image

A few of the highlights of the James Webb Space Telescope's first batch of images

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and the Webb ERO Production Team

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A few of the highlights of the James Webb Space Telescope's first batch of images

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and the Webb ERO Production Team

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A region of space known as SMACS 0723, which was the subject of James Webb's first science image. The smearing effect is the result of a gravitational lens, where light is distorted by huge amounts of mass in the foreground

Space Telescope Science Institut/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO

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The James Webb Telescope's stunning view of the Southern Ring Nebula

NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

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The inner edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, captured in infrared light by James Webb

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

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A mosaic image of Stephan’s Quintet, a set of five galaxies made famous by the film It's a Wonderful Life

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

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The Cartwheel Galaxy, as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

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Webb's NIRCam 2.12 micron filter provides a look at Jupiter in a new light

NASA, ESA, CSA, and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)

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A composite image of Jupiter created using James Webb's NIRCam

NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt

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James Webb peers through the dust that usually obscures M74, also known as the Phantom Galaxy, in this spooky image

ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team. Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt

James Webb's view of the protostar L1527

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Webb captures the "baby burps" of the very young protostar L1527, which is estimated to be just 100,000 years old

NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale, A. Pagan, and A. Koekemoer (STScI)

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James Webb has provided the clearest view of Neptune's rings taken so far

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

12/17

The James Webb Space Telescope snapped a stunning new image of the iconic Pillars of Creation

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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Another, creepier view of the Pillars of Creation, this time taken by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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A section of the dwarf galaxy Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte, along with background galaxies, all captured in spectacular detail

NASA, ESA, CSA, Kristen McQuinn (RU), Zolt G. Levay (STScI)

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A pair of stars in the system Wolf-Rayet 140, with rings clearly visible in the clouds of dust and gas they're throwing off

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JPL-Caltech

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The Tarantula Nebula as seen through James Webb's Mid-infrared Instrument (MIRI)

NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

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Webb's most recent image, released just before Christmas 2022, shows the galaxy NGC 7469 looking a lot like a holiday wreath. The red spikes are artifacts on the image and not really present in the galaxy

ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. S. Evans

View gallery - 17 images

In 2022, decades of work finally came to fruition as the James Webb Space Telescope fired up and began training its unprecedented eyes on the universe. From distant galaxies to our nearby neighbors, let’s look back at some of the most impressive images the telescope has captured so far.

The successor to Hubble, James Webb scans the skies in infrared, and that combined with the unprecedented size of its mirror allows the telescope to peer deeper into space and further back in time than any other observatory. Using this power, Webb’s mission is to study the formation and evolution of stars, planets and galaxies, especially those that formed soon after the Big Bang. It may even find the first signs of extraterrestrial life.

NASA released the first batch of images to the public in July, including a view of a distant cluster of galaxies magnified by a gravitational lens, a nebula cast off from a dying star and another that’s birthing new ones.

Since then, James Webb has been busy producing image after stunning image, revealing new details of galaxies, nebulae and famous celestial landmarks like the Pillars of Creation. Closer to home, it showed Jupiter in a new light, and gave us the clearest look yet at Neptune’s rings.

And of course, this is just the beginning. James Webb is planned to examine the cosmos for at least the next decade, and if it’s anything like its predecessor Hubble, its mission could be extended for another decade beyond that.

So come take a look through the highlights of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first six months in operation in our gallery.

Source: NASA on Flickr

View gallery - 17 images