EmilyD

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.

Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. 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.

This deep field, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours – achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest fields, which took weeks.

The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe.

https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/deploymentExplorer.html#43

Every single speck in this image is a galaxy like ours! And as the telescope moves further and further, these keep showing up....it seems infinite! How SMALL we are!!!!

EmilyD

OOPS....I meant to put this into General Chit Chat, but forgot to. Admin will probably move it.

Roamin' Catholic Loc: luxurious exile

And how LOVED we are by Our Lord, the Creator of all this and all future creation!

Thanks EmilyD!

EmilyD

That's what I thought when I first stared at that image! Wow! How can anyone look at that and not have faith in creationism! Beautiful!

albertk

Beautiful!!! Thank you Emily for posting this.