1 min read

Webb’s First Deep Field

This is the deepest,sharpest infrared image of the cosmos so far.The viewof theearly Universetoward the southern constellation Volanswas achieved in 12.5 hours of exposure with the NIRCam instrument on theJames Webb Space Telescope.Of course the stars with six visible spikes are well within our ownMilky Way.That diffractionpattern is characteristic of Webb's 18 hexagonal mirrorsegments operating together as a single 6.5 meter diameter primarymirror.The thousands of galaxies flooding the field of view are members of thedistant galaxy cluster SMACS0723-73, some 4.6 billion light-years away.Luminous arcs that seem to infest the deep field areeven more distant galaxies though.Their images are distorted and magnified by thedark matter dominated mass of the galaxy cluster, an effectknown as gravitational lensing.Analyzing lightfrom two separate arcs below the bright spiky star,Webb's NIRISS instrument indicates the arcsare both images of the same background galaxy.And that galaxy's light took about 9.5 billion years to reach theJames Webb Space Telescope.

Image Credit: NASA,ESA,CSA,STScI,NIRCam

Specific copyrights apply.

View image source

Share

Details

Last Updated
Jul 12, 2022
Editor
NASA Science Editorial Team

Related Terms

Explore More

2 min read

NASA Student Airborne Research Program celebrates 15 years of success

This summer, NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) will celebrate its 15th anniversary.

Article2 years ago
2 min read

NASA’s C-20A deploys to Hawaii Following Volcanic Eruption

Following the eruption of the world’s largest active volcano, Mauna Loa, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center deployed its C-20A aircraft to Kona, Hawaii, to gather images and data of the active lava flows for submission to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) by a team of scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The plane […]

Article2 years ago
1 min read

America and the Sea of Serenity

Article2 years ago
Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.

Perseverance Rover

Parker Solar Probe

Juno