Stunning and pioneering images of the early universe captivated the world earlier this week when NASA released the first pictures from its new super space telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope offered an unprecedented view of a "stellar nursery," a dying star shrouded in dust, and a "cosmic dance" among a group of galaxies, along with hints of water vapor in the atmosphere of a distant exoplanet. However, astronomers say this is just a "glimpse of a much bigger picture." The $10 billion (£7.4 billion) telescope is expected to observe the first stars that lit up and discover habitable planets in distant galaxies, effectively looking back in time between 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang. But aside from its breathtaking and beautiful images of galaxies, nebulae, and even the atmospheric spectrum of the distant world WASP-96 b, what is the significance of these images for scientists, the public, and humanity as a whole?
In this regard, MailOnline spoke to several astronomers to answer all the big questions.
**What is the James Webb Space Telescope?**
Unlike large observatories on Earth, the James Webb was launched into space to monitor distant objects without its view being obstructed by Earth's atmosphere, which blocks wavelengths of light from the red spectrum to mid-infrared. This is what makes the Webb distinct, as it detects infrared light at longer wavelengths than our eyes can perceive. Essentially, as light from the farthest galaxies travels through space, it stretches due to the expansion of space. This means that by the time the light reaches Earth, this expansion process has shifted shorter wavelengths of visible light and ultraviolet light into longer wavelengths of infrared. Only telescopes that can detect infrared light can see the faint light from distant galaxies and other objects, which is what the Webb is capable of doing. Furthermore, the Webb does not orbit the Earth as its predecessor, Hubble, did, but instead orbits the Sun about a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from our planet at a location called the second Lagrange point or L2.
The first five images from the super space telescope showcased views of distant galaxies, nebulae, and an exoplanet invisible to the naked eye. These included the Southern Ring Nebula, Stephan's Quintet, the Carina Nebula, the spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-96 b, and a galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723. The latter was observed as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, despite many galaxies in front and behind the cluster, including light from a galaxy that traveled for 13.1 billion years before being captured by Webb's mirrors.
**Why are we seeing this now, while some of it has existed for billions of years?**
Light has a finite speed, so it has already taken up to 13 billion years for the light generated by some of these galaxies and stars to reach us now. For comparison, light takes about one second to travel from the Moon and 8 minutes from the Sun. Therefore, we see the Sun as it was 8 minutes ago. If it were to disappear, we would find out after 8 minutes. Only with this large space telescope can we finally detect this light, because over the years of its travel through space and time for us, it has stretched from high-energy visible light to infrared.
**Where is the Earth?**
Earth is not visible in any of the images. This is because the underside of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is the size of a tennis court, is always facing the Sun to block it. This means that Earth is always positioned between Webb and the Sun as well, so the telescope will never capture it.
**What is expected to happen to the galaxies in the images now?**
It is difficult to know for sure. Some are said to merge with other galaxies, some may have formed new stars, and others may be "dead" and no longer forming stars at all.
**What does it mean to look at the distant universe?**
When the telescope looks far away, it is also looking back in time. The light received by the telescope takes time to travel across space. Therefore, we do not see things as they are now but as they were at the moment the light was emitted, traveling for billions of years across the universe to reach us. To see very faint and distant objects, the telescope needs a giant mirror to gather light. With Webb's larger mirror, it will be able to see almost all the way back to the beginning of the universe, over 13.5 billion years ago. The size of a telescope's mirror area determines its sensitivity, or how much detail it can see. Since Webb's telescope has a much larger mirror than Hubble's, it can look back in time further. Its ability to see the universe in longer infrared light wavelengths is also important, as newly formed stars and planets are often hidden behind dust clouds that absorb visible light. Infrared light can penetrate these obstructions. Because light from distant objects stretches due to the expanding universe – a phenomenon known as redshift – it pushes light out of the visible range into infrared.
The orbiting observatory, designed to be about 100 times more powerful than Hubble, has a giant golden mirror just over 21 feet wide, made up of 18 individual hexagonal segments that can fold. This reflective surface provides Webb with the accuracy and sensitivity needed to accomplish its mission. It was specifically designed to look at infrared light, which is invisible to our eyes but allows it to detect the glow from the furthest objects in the universe. It works much like how night vision goggles utilize thermal imaging technology to capture infrared light.
As the universe expands, almost all the galaxies we see from Earth are moving away from us. This means that for us, their light appears to have a longer wavelength, or redshift.
**If you go to space with a telescope, will you see the same thing?**
Unfortunately, no. The James Webb Space Telescope is the most complex space observatory ever built, and it is 100 times stronger than Hubble — the "godfather" of space telescopes — and can probe deeper into space. Creating the observatory took decades and cost $10 billion (£7.4 billion). After its launch, engineers had to wait anxiously to ensure all of Webb's mirrors were aligned to within tiny fractions of the width of a human hair. They say its sharp performance is now exceeding expectations. It was specifically tuned to view the sky in infrared — light at wavelengths longer than our eyes can perceive. So, no, your small telescope won't be able to see what Webb sees, even if you were lucky enough to venture into space.
**Are there black holes in the images?**
Yes! The galaxies in Stephan's Quintet will contain supermassive black holes at their centers, just as many do in the deep field images. There will also be black holes throughout the images of galaxies that Webb captures in the future, as well as those released in the past few days. These will be at the centers of galaxies, scattered among vast star nurseries, and even lone black holes that will never be seen. Astronomers believe that massive black holes lie at the center of nearly all large galaxies, including our Milky Way. They can detect them by observing their effect on nearby stars and gases.
**Can humans or human-made objects reach any of the photographed galaxies?**
Unfortunately, with current or even known technology, there is no way we can go or send anything man-made to these distant galaxies. It might be possible to reach objects in our galaxy someday, but even those bodies are at vast distances.
**Why are these images so significant?**
There is enormous excitement within the scientific community about the discoveries Webb can make. What we see is just a small glimpse of the images, science, and knowledge yet to come. Most importantly, it is a beautiful showcase of all the different types of science this telescope will conduct. The ultimate goal of Webb is to delve back in time 13.5 billion years to a point just 100-200 million years after the Big Bang. It will capture images of the first stars glowing in the universe and explore distant planets to see if they are habitable. Dr. Stephen Wilkins, head of the astronomy department at the University of Sussex, told MailOnline: "While these images will be individually scientifically valuable (there will be many papers), they are incredibly useful as a validation that the observatory can do the science we need it to actually do."
**Who was James Webb?**
James Webb, who died in 1992 at the age of 85, was the second administrator in NASA's history, taking the position at the request of John F. Kennedy in 1961. He ran the agency until 1968 and played a key role in the Apollo programs that saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon in the year following his departure. In 2002, the American space agency announced that its new $10 billion telescope would be named after him.
**When can we expect more images?**
Not long to wait! The next images are expected to be released by the end of the week. After that, they can be released regularly to a significant extent.
**How will astronomers decide what Webb will capture next?**
Experts have already planned what Webb will observe during its first year of operations. This came after over 1,000 proposals from researchers on what to observe, which were then narrowed down by groups of scientists. Following the release of the first five images to the world on Tuesday, Webb was already monitoring a primordial star called CED110IRS4-LRS. It first examined the asteroid 1998-BC1 and then moved on to a series of observations of Jupiter, starting with its faint rings.
**As scientists gather more data, could they revise the currently accepted age of the universe to be much greater than 13.8 billion years?**
There is a possibility that Webb's analysis could lead scientists to revise their estimates for the age of the universe. This will depend on new measurements of its expansion. However, if they do, it is likely to decrease rather than increase. For example, if the universe is expanding faster than we thought, it could be much smaller than the currently accepted 13.8 billion years.
**In detail: What do Webb's first images actually show?**
- **SMACS 0723**: The first full-color image released was a composite of one section of space captured by Webb’s camera. It shows a galaxy cluster as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, featuring many galaxies in front and behind the cluster, including light from a galaxy that traveled for 13.1 billion years before being captured by Webb's mirrors. Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the universe that are tied together by their gravity, containing hundreds or thousands of galaxies, lots of hot plasma, and a significant amount of dark matter — which is invisible mass that interacts only with normal matter through gravity and does not emit, absorb, or reflect light. The SMACS 0723 composite, known as Webb’s first deep field, was formed from images at varying wavelengths captured in just 12.5 hours. In comparison, Hubble takes weeks to achieve the same deep field image.
- **WASP-96 b**: Following that, NASA unveiled the most detailed spectrum of an exoplanet’s atmosphere to date, allowing scientists to detect water vapor in the atmosphere of WASP-96 b — a hot, swollen gas giant similar to Jupiter that is over 1,000 light-years away from Earth. Although WASP-96 b is not a suitable planet for hosting life due to its proximity to its host star and extremely high temperatures, Webb will search for worlds that do.
- **Southern Ring Nebula**: This nebula captures a planetary nebula located 2,500 light-years from Earth, known as the Southern Ring Nebula. Despite its name "planetary nebula," it is not related to planets. Instead, it is a giant expanding ball of gas and dust illuminated by a dying star at its core, ejected in rings over thousands of years in all directions. This is because as stars age, they change the way they produce energy and expel their outer layers before the same material reignites again when it becomes hot enough.
- **Carina Nebula**: Webb also revealed a sparkling image of young stars in the Carina Nebula, one of the largest and brightest nebulae in space located about 7,600 light-years away in the southern constellation named Carina. Nebulae are stellar nurseries where stars are born, and this specific location is home to many giant stars, some larger than the Sun. The stunning shot showcases the edge of a region of nearby, young star formation called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. The lower part of the image shows the western portion of NGC 3324, which NASA calls "cosmic cliffs" — an orange-brown landscape of "rocky mountains" and "valleys" filled with sparkling stars.
