President Joe Biden has unveiled the first picture taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, offering us a deeper glimpse into the universe than we’ve ever seen before.
While the full set of pictures are set to be released tomorrow (12 July), Biden was given an exclusive opportunity to show off exactly what the huge NASA is capable of.
The project has been in development for 30 years and has cost a considerable amount of money - around $10 billion – to bring to fruition.
Still, the photos are set to show off the universe in a way that it has never been seen, including colours that haven’t been seen with the human eye, and more depth of resolution than any other telescope.
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The huge observatory was lifted off into space back on Christmas Day 2021, which must have been a nervous time for everyone behind it.
Given the cost and work that went into building it, the relief upon successfully delivering it to position must have been massive.
The telescope features the largest mirror ever sent into space, measuring at more than 21 feet across, which is designed to gather infra-red light.
It is that infrared light, which is outside the scope of the human eye, that they have been allowed to peer further into the nooks and crannies of the universe than any telescope in the past.
Since it was launched, the team have been working extremely hard to calibrate everything, aligning up the telescope, and generally manoeuvring it into the correct position to capture the images that are set to be released.
If your imagination has been captured by the release of the first picture today, you’ll be pleased to learn that there is more to come.
The full first set of images will be released by NASA on a live stream tomorrow at 10:30am ET (15:30pm BST).
That stream will be available on YouTube, as well as on NASA’s website.
Topics: Science, World News, NASA, Space
Tom Wood