Webb telescope, Hubble and more: The 60 most amazing photos so far
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The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Dec. 25, 2021, and it's been wowing us ever since.
Webb cost American taxpayers $10 billion and was designed to extend the discoveries of the agency's popular Hubble Space Telescope, which launched in 1990 and also still operates. (Webb has longer wavelength coverage and improved sensitivity, making its potential to uncover the uncharted regions of space even greater.) This star-forming section in the Carina Nebula referred to as NGC 3324 was captured by Webb. This image features the heart of the swirly Messier 74, which is also known as the Phantom Galaxy and located in the Pisces constellation. In summer of 2022, the Webb project released images of Jupiter that showed off the planet's unique characteristics. This Webb image, dubbed First Deep Field, features galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. Joe Biden unveiled it in July during a White House press briefing. The Webb is credited with capturing the clearest view of Neptune's rings in 30 years. Part of the first image from Webb was used in this composition which features asteroids sitting beside galaxies. This Webb image, known as Southern Ring Nebula, includes a planetary nebula that is about 2,500 light years away, according to NASA. This captivating photo, portraying dazzling young stars, was created through both the Webb's near-infrared camera and mid-infrared instrument. You might recognize Stephan's Quintet from the popular American Christmas drama "It's a Wonderful Life," where it was featured. In September, NASA released a Webb image capturing the first planet outside of the solar system, CBS News reported. NASA recently released a new picture of the Cartwheel Galaxy that was captured by Webb. The Webb project recently showed off the capabilities of its fine guidance sensor in July 2022 through this image of stars and galaxies. This photo features the Webb in outer space on orbit of Earth. This stunning photo depicting a galaxy was taken using the Webb's MIRI instrument. This photo, focusing on a bright star, was taken as an alignment evaluation, according to NASA. The Webb telescope recently captured images of a satellite galaxy that were then compared with photos from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. In September 2022, an image captured by Webb featured the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region — and it made headlines. Mid-infrared light from the Webb captured the heart of the Tarantula Nebula in this photo. In this image you can see Hubble and Webb working together. This photo shows Webb in the black night sky on the very day it launched on Dec. 25, 2021. This pastel-splashed photo shows the Webb in outer space on a mission. In April, NASA released a record-breaking image. This image taken from Hubble features multi-colored stars clustered together. This image from the Hubble depicts a celestial cloudscape, according to NASA. In 2022, Hubble discovered the largest comet known to date. In September 2022, NASA's Hubblesite announced the discovery of young stars in spiraling formation. In July 2022, NASA showed off two new eye-catching photos from space taken by Hubble. On July 4, 2020, Hubble captured this image of the planet Saturn and its stunning rings. This image depicts what is described by NASA as the "last hurrah" of a star similar to the sun. On Aug. 8, 2020 the Hubble captured this image of the comet Neowise making its journey around the sun. One of the most popular and luminous globular clusters in the northern sky is known as globular cluster M13. Hundreds of millions of years ago, the two spiral galaxies pictured here, known as the Antennae Galaxies, started merging. This photo captures the Glowing Eye Nebula in the constellation Aquila, known for resembling a large eye. The arms of this spiral galaxy image, captured by Hubble, is what makes it eye-catching. The Hubble project recently shared this photo, showing plumes of turquoise hydrogen gas on the edge of the Tarantula Nebula. In 1998, Hubble examined the planetary nebula known as NGC 7027. This shot from Hubble offers an up-close look at the Helix Nebula. A massive star can easily be spotted in this photo of Nebula N83B. The Hubble captured the colorful beauty of the Andromeda Galaxy, which is also known as M31. Hubble recently revealed evidence of a lone black hole in interstellar space. Did the universe smile down on mankind? Several star clusters were found in Abell 1689 after Hubble closely examined the galaxy cluster located in the constellation Virgo in 2010. Artwork from artist Adam Makarenko that was released earlier this year on the Hubble site depicts mini-Neptune TOI 560.01. This photo from Hubble offers a glimpse of Planetary Nebula ngc 7009. In 2014, Hubble captured this image featuring the thin remains from a Type IA supernova. In June, the Hubble team joked about this image resembling a penguin protecting its egg. This alluring image, called the Pillars of Creation, was created using a combination of data from Hubble and X-ray imaging from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. While gaseous debris surrounding dying stars is often in circular form, this image, captured by Hubble, appears to show a rectangle shape surrounding one. In this photo, you can see Hubble orbiting Earth. Meet AG Carinae, one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way galaxy, enclosed by dust and gas. This shot taken by the Spitzer is credited with revealing details of life and death in the Eagle Nebula. In this photo, a type of dead star referred to as a pulsar is on full display. This infrared image from Spitzer highlights the magnificent beauty of Perseus, a constellation in the northern sky. In 2017, Spitzer offered a glance of the first known set of habitable zone planets around a single star. In this photo, you can see Spitzer in space against the infrared sky as it is positioned toward the Rho Ophiuchi. Spitzer discovered the largest ring ever known around Saturn in 2009, according to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 2005, the Hubble and Spitzer teamed up and discovered one of the most distant galaxies known to mankind called HUDF-JD2. This montage depicts a series of extraordinary images taken by Spitzer. This colorfully fun image highlights the beauty of a nebula in the constellation Sagittarius. In this photo, Spitzer's infrared cameras reveal the stars of the crowded galactic center region of the Milky Way galaxy.
Already, Webb has captured the first planet outside of the solar system, depicted never before seen characteristics of Jupiter and made other fascinating discoveries. The image is notable because it offers a first-time glimpse of star births in areas of the Carina Nebula. The image was released by the European Space Agency and is a combination of data from both Webb and Hubble. The planet's northern and southern lights, swirling polar haze and Great Red Spot stand out in the photos. The image covers "a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand, held at arm's length by someone on the ground," per NASA, "and reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of vast universe." In September, NASA released this image showing the ice giant like never before. "Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb's view for the first time," said NASA of the image used to create this composition. NASA added that the image features a dimmer star that has been emitting both rings of dust and gas for thousands of years. "Two cameras are better than one, as seen in this combined view from Webb's NIRCam & MIRI," NASA tweeted. "In the near-infrared, we see hundreds of stars and background galaxies. Meanwhile, the mid-infrared shows us dusty planet-forming disks (in red and pink) around young stars." Stephan's Quintet depicts five galaxies grouped together. The Webb telescope depicted Stephan's Quintet in a new light. Images of the exoplanet, called HIP 65426 B, made headlines. The exoplanet is 355 light years from Earth, between 15 million to 20 million years old and uninhabitable — a gas giant with no rocky surface. You can witness the present state of the galaxy in the image in addition to its past and future. While the FGS is capable of taking images, its primary purpose is to point Webb precisely at targets. You can see the planet's surface in the background. MIRI has sensitive detectors that give it insight into the redshifted light of far away galaxies in addition to objects in the Kuiper Belt and newly forming stars. However, it also drew attention to the galaxies and stars seen in the background. The shot from the Spitzer, on the left, reveals the high quality of Webb and its capabilities. The region was seen in a new light. According to CBS News, the Webb captured thousands of never-before-seen young stars in the Tarantula Nebula. "Webb has already begun revealing a universe never seen before, and is only getting started on rewriting the stellar creation story," NASA said. The image of the galaxy to the left is from Hubble. The Webb version, to the far right, appears noticeably different. It was viewed at 6:30 p.m. in Hyderabad, India, from the University of Hyderabad campus in the southern sky. The Webb delivered its first fascinating image of the cosmos shortly after launching in 2021. Nicknamed "Earendel," it offers a glimpse of the most distant single star that Hubble has discovered to date. It shows a portion of the universe filled with thousands of colorful stars. It features a multi-colored area in the Orion Nebula around Herbig-Haro object HH 505, the agency added. Herbig–Haro objects are strikingly bright regions surrounding newborn stars. Citing NASA, CBS News reported the comet is bigger than the state of Rhode Island; is located in our solar system; and could possibly stretch as far as 85 miles. The young stars were found "spiraling into the center of a massive cluster of stars," per NASA. It's in the Milky Way. In the first image to the left, you can see "rarely observed," colliding galaxies. Meanwhile, the right photo discloses an "unusual" spiral galaxy with three arms as opposed to the typical even number. While Saturn is 839 million miles from Earth, the photo was able to capture a perfect view of its rings. In the photo taken by Hubble, you can see the burned-up star known as a white dwarf in the very center. As the star's life comes to an end, colorful outer layers of gas are discarded. The completion of the journey was considered impressive at the time, considering many other comets in its place would have broken apart. In this image captured by Hubble, you can see hundreds of thousands of stars circulating within globular cluster M13. The pair, captured by Hubble, are one of the closest and youngest known colliding galaxies. The nebula pictured here reportedly consists of a cloud of material casted off thousands of years ago from the hot star seen in the middle. The spiral galaxy's arms are comprised of young blue stars and pink star clusters that sit amid brown dust. It was captured using near-infrared light. The same photo is also available in both visible and ultraviolet light. It recently shared that in 2019, the planetary nebula was examined again, but in ultraviolet light for the first time. "What look like raindrops are comet-like filaments that likely formed when hot stellar winds and radiation plowed into shells of gas and dust," tweeted the Hubble project. In the photo, the star appears as a luminous spherical bubble within the nebula. In the photo, some of the red on the edge of the galaxy is comprised of hydrogen gas from intergalactic space. The hydrogen gas is also from galaxies that previously merged with the Andromeda Galaxy. The black hole is not visible to the human eye because the powerful gravity associated with them swallows light. This popular 2015 photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble project appears to show galaxy cluster SDSS J1038+4849 displaying a smile. The star clusters resemble white dots and the larger blotches are reportedly whole galaxies of stars. Based 103 light years away, the mini Neptune planet is seen in close proximity to its star. As the planet continues losing its puffy atmosphere it could eventually evolve into what scientists call a super-Earth. Green and yellow colored gaseous material surrounds the pink remnant core of the star in the center. It's in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The image, called colliding galaxy pair Arp 142, actually shows a close encounter between two galaxies. It was taken in the Eagle Nebula, and features what is known as "elephant trunks" of interstellar gas and dust. The star-filled region of the Eagle Nebula is in the Serpens constellation, up to 7,000 light years from Earth. This nebula was named the "Red Rectangle" due to its shape and color. The sun's bright beams shine over the telescope as it orbits the cosmos to unravel mysteries. There is speculation that one or more giant eruptions nearly 10,000 years ago caused the massive nebula, which is 5 light years wide. This image was captured by Hubble. Using infrared light, Spitzer helped capture newborn stars and unstable clouds in the Eagle Nebula. The surrounding disk of rubble was discovered by Spitzer. You can see bright pink baby stars that are around three million years old and part of the 300-member IC348 star cluster. The Perseus Nebula appears as a green cloud in the middle of the photo. The seven planets discovered are each the size of Earth and could have water — essential to human survival. The images inspired this speculative illustration. It's a multiple star system in the constellation Ophiuchus. At the time, JPL reported it would take nearly one billion Earths to fill the ring. This photo depicts the combined visible and infrared view of galaxy HUDF-JD2 from both telescopes. The collection shared by the JPL features celestial wonders, nebulas and galaxies. They were all taken within the Spitzer's first year and a half in space. The nebula here is referred to as the Godzilla nebula for good reason. The image shows older, cool stars in bluish tones. Meanwhile, reddish bright dust clouds are aligned with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries.
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