(Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI, Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI))
NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on Dec. 25, 2021, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Since it arrived at its new cosmic home, Lagrange Point 2, on Jan. 24, 2022, the infrared observatory has been busy sharing some truly breathtaking views of the cosmos.Â
JWST, the largest and most powerful space telescope to date, released its first scientific images on July 12, 2022, but it didn’t stop there.Â
The next-generation observatory continues to beam back jaw-dropping images. We explore some of the best of them here. You can scroll through the gallery using the navigation arrows above.Â
In this image, which was released on Nov. 16, 2022, a fiery cosmic hourglass conceals a fledgling star, or protostar, at its heart. The blazing scene had been hidden from telescopes by a dense, dark cloud of gas and dust known as L1527 and is only visible in infrared light. The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) aboard JWST revealed the formation within the Taurus star-forming region in all its glory.
Read more: Fiery James Webb Space Telescope image shows the early days of star formation
