NASA's James Webb telescope captures groundbreaking images of distant galaxies

, |

July 12th, 2022

The bright star at the center of NGC 3132, Southern Nebula Ring, while prominent when viewed by NASA's Webb Telescope in near-infrared light, plays a supporting role in sculpting the surrounding nebula. A second star, barely visible at lower left along one of the bright star's diffraction spikes, is the nebula's source. It has ejected at least eight layers of gas and dust over thousands of years. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

The universe’s splendor and breadth are on display like never before, thanks to a new batch of images that NASA released from the James Webb Space Telescope on Tuesday.

The images reflect five areas of space that researchers agreed to target: the exoplanet WASP-96 b; the Southern Ring Nebula; the Carina Nebula; Stephan’s Quintet (five galaxies in the constellation Pegasus); and the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723.

“WASP-96 b is a giant planet outside our solar system, composed mainly of gas,” NASA said. “The planet, located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, orbits its star every 3.4 days. It has about half the mass of Jupiter, and its discovery was announced in 2014.”

Related

Top Stories