Deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date has revealed by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
On July 11, 2022, at a White House ceremony, President Joe Biden unveiled Webb’s First Deep Field image "Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723".
On July 12, 2022, the spectra, that is, the full series of Webb’s first full-color images and data were released by NASA and its partners.
Webb's sharp near-infrared image revealed faint features in extremely distant galaxies, offering the most detailed view of the early cosmos to date.
Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723
Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is Webb's First Deep Field, containing thousands of galaxies, including the faintest infrared objects ever observed.
Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 can be viewed near the constellation Volans in the southern sky.
Webb's image reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of the vast universe, which is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length.
This galaxy cluster's combined mass acts as a gravitational lens to magnify more distant galaxies, including some seen when the universe was less than a billion years old.
Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) captured this deep field, which is a composite made from images at various wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours.
This image depicts the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, with many more galaxies in front of and behind the cluster.
Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which observes mid-infrared light, also imaged this field.
Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam)
Webb's NIRCam has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus, that have tiny, faint structures including star clusters and diffuse features, that have never been seen previously.
It took billions of years for the light from these galaxies to reach us. When viewing the youngest galaxies in this field, we are looking back in time to within a billion years after the big bang.
The light was stretched by the expansion of the universe to infrared wavelengths that Webb was made to observe.
The masses, ages, histories, and compositions of the galaxies will soon be known more by researchers.
Webb's MIRI image shows a kaleidoscope of hues and highlights where the dust is, which is a major ingredient for star formation, and ultimately life itself.
Blue galaxies have stars but very little dust. This field's red objects are obscured by thick layers of dust. Hydrocarbons and other chemical substances populate green galaxies.
Two of Webb's instruments in addition to taking images also obtained spectra - data that reveal objects’ chemical and physical properties.
These types of data will help researchers understand how galaxies form, grow, and merge with each other, and why they stop forming stars altogether in some cases.
Webb’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec)
NIRSpec microshutter array, a new technology used for the first time in space, observed 48 individual galaxies at the same time.
The data revealed that one galaxy's light traveled for 13.1 billion years before being caught by Webb's mirrors. NIRSpec data also show how detailed galaxy spectra will be with Webb observations.
Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS)
Webb’s NIRISS captured spectra of all the objects in the entire field of view at once. The result proves that one of the galaxies has a mirror image.