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ABC News
National

Comparing NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope images to Hubble's pictures

The view of Stephan's Quintet is around 290 million years old. (Reuters: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team)

New images released by NASA have captured an astonishing level of detail of the universe never seen before.

The images, taken by NASA's $13 billion James Webb Space Telescope, have previously been captured by the Hubble Telescope, but show a much more complex picture of the universe.

The reason for the difference between the two come down to their different-sized mirrors and different capabilities.

Webb's mirror is nearly three times bigger than Hubble's, and Webb is able to capture the universe in the infrared spectrum, while Hubble largely captures images at visible and ultraviolet light.

Carina Nebula

The "Cosmic Cliffs" captured by Webb have built on Hubble's imagery of the Carina Nebula.

The striking image shows the mountains and valleys of the region that's 7,600 light-years away where stars are born.

Stephan's Quintet

This cluster was first discovered in 1877, but Webb's image captures five galaxies, including a black hole, that's from 290 million years ago.

The image captured by Hubble appeared to show the galaxies surrounded by darkness — but Webb has turned that on its head, and could provide insights into how early galaxies formed at the start of the universe.

Southern Ring Nebula

The incredible detail captured by Webb shows the nebula cloaked in dust and emitting gas, giving scientists a greater insight into the process a star goes through when it dies.

SMACS 0723

The deepest view of the cosmos was the first image released from Webb, providing a glittering view of stars and galaxies from about 4.6 billion years ago — the farthest humanity has ever seen in time and distance.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson gave an insight into the scale of the cluster when the image was released on Monday.

"If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm's length, that is the part of the universe you are seeing.

"It's just a tiny sliver of the vast universe."

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