Nasa releases stunning new images from James Webb Space Telescope

12 July 2022, 17:21

Nasa has released a series of stunning new images of the distant cosmos from its James Webb Space Telescope.

The Southern Ring planetary nebula, lit up by a dying star in its centre, is seen in the first image.

A second shows Stephan's Quintet, a galaxy cluster locked in a "sort of cosmic dance driven by the gravitational force", according to data scientist Giovanna Giardino.

A third image shows the cosmic cliffs of the Carina Nebula, where new stars are forming among colossal walls of dust and gas.

Deputy project scientist Amber Straughn says in the new image we see "hundreds of new stars that we've never seen before, we see examples of bubbles and cavities and jets that are being blown out by these newborn stars, we even see some galaxies lurking in the background".

Nasa and its partners, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency, released the full-colour images during a live Nasa TV broadcast on Tuesday.

The telescope's first image was revealed overnight, showing what is said to be the "deepest" and most detailed picture of the cosmos to date.

Known as Webb's First Deep Field, the picture showcases a galaxy cluster called SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago.

It was revealed by US President Joe Biden during an event at the White House.

The James Webb Space Telescope lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on Christmas Day last year on its mission to unlock the secrets of the universe.

Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies' masses, ages, histories and compositions as Webb seeks to view the earliest galaxies in the Universe.