NASA releases next wave of images from James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope began releasing a new wave of cosmic images on Tuesday, heralding a new era of astronomy. NASA on Tuesday began releasing the images from the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful observatory ever placed in orbit. "This morning, folks across this planet are going to see the images captured by this telescope, and every image is a new discovery," said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. "Each will give humanity a view of the universe that we've never seen before."
On Monday, Webb revealed the clearest image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion years.
One new image on Tuesday shows water vapor in the atmosphere of a faraway gas planet. The spectroscopy -- an analysis of light that reveals detailed information -- was of planet WASP-96 b, which was discovered in 2014.
Nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, WASP-96 b is about half the mass of Jupiter and zips around its star in just 3.4 days.
"We've seen the effect of what happens when a planet and its atmosphere passes in front of the star, and the star light filters through the atmosphere, and you can break that down into wavelengths of light," said NASA's Knicole Colon.
"So you're actually seeing bumps and wiggles that indicate the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of the planet."
Other targets that will be released include Carina Nebula, a stellar nursery, famous for its towering pillars that include "Mystic Mountain," a three-light-year-tall cosmic pinnacle captured in an iconic image by Hubble.
One stunning shot released by the White House on Monday was overflowing with thousands of galaxies and features some of the faintest objects observed.
Known as Webb's First Deep Field, it shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which
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