NASA Announces Arrival Date of First James Webb Space Telescope Images

NASA has announced that the first full-color photographs from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope will be revealed on July 12, a milestone that has taken decades to achieve. JWST is the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope, and it has been in the works since shortly after Hubble’s launch in 1990. It was supposed to debut in 2007, but it was delayed for more than a decade before ultimately launching on Christmas Day 2021.

“We are on the verge of an extremely exciting moment of learning about our cosmos as we reach the finish of preparing the observatory for science. Webb’s first full-color photographs will provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us all to pause and wonder at a vision that humankind has never seen before “In a statement, NASA Webb programme scientist Eric Smith stated.JWST has already shared some of the photographs captured during this testing period, which are rather remarkable. JWST will begin working through a list of specified targets as it moves from preparation to science. These targets include a number of Jupiter-sized exoplanets as well as several super-Earths.

“Our aims for Webb’s initial photographs and data are to show off the telescope’s strong sensors while also giving a glimpse of the research mission to come,” said Klaus Pontoppidan, an astronomer and Webb project scientist. “They’ll undoubtedly give astronomers and the general public a long-awaited ‘wow.'” According to NASA, the first set of photos from Webb’s operational phase will also touch on the other topics JWST will study, such as the early universe’s history, galaxies‘ evolution, and star lifecycles.

There are likely to be unexpected findings along the road, in addition to what scientists want to examine with JWST. Hubble’s observations were notable for leading to the discovery of dark energy. It’s unclear what we’ll uncover next, but indications might be found in the photographs slated to be revealed on July 12.