Nasa has released an image of the early universe as it was 13 billion years ago – taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful observatory to be placed in orbit.
Captured in sharp detail, the image is overflowing with thousands of galaxies and features the faintest objects ever photographed.
“This telescope is one of humanity’s great engineering achievements,” US President Joe Biden said at a White House briefing, adding the photo provided “a new window into the history of our universe”.
“It’s hard to even fathom. It’s astounding. It’s an historic moment for science and technology, for America and all of humanity.”
First Deep Field
Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, the image shows a galaxy cluster called SMACS 0723, which acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it.
According to the European Space Agency, this slice of the vast universe is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.
Webb’s primary imager NIRCam – which operates in the near infrared wavelength spectrum because light from the early universe has been stretched out by the time it reaches us – has brought these faint background galaxies into sharp focus.
Webb compiled the composite shot in 12.5 hours, achieving well beyond what the Hubble Space Telescope could in weeks.
The telescope is designed to peer back so far that scientists can get a glimpse of the dawn of the universe and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus.
The next set of images will be released Tuesday.
(with AFP)
