NASA Unveils Webb Telescope's Most Stunning Photo Yet
The Pillars of Creation have long been a spectacle amongst space aficionados since the Hubble Space Telescope first captured a photo of the cosmic dust nearly 30 years ago. Now that the Webb Space Telescope has been in action for the past few months, the Hubble successor has captured its first look at the nebula—and it's a thing of beauty.
Because Webb has been outfitted with a Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), it has been apple to peer through much of the cosmic dust, resulting in a higher quality photo that's taken the internet by storm Wednesday.
This is what you’ve waited for.
— NASA Hallo-Webb Telescope 🕸🕷🎃 (@NASAWebb) October 19, 2022
Journey with us through Webb’s breathtaking view of the Pillars of Creation, where scores of newly formed stars glisten like dewdrops among floating, translucent columns of gas and dust: https://t.co/5ea1kCzU5x
Here’s your guided tour ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/jFiDDrMUPl
"What about those wavy lines that look like lava at the edges of some pillars? These are ejections from stars that are still forming within the gas and dust," NASA said in a blog post unveiling the picture. "Young stars periodically shoot out supersonic jets that collide with clouds of material, like these thick pillars. This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water."
It added, "The crimson glow comes from the energetic hydrogen molecules that result from jets and shocks. This is evident in the second and third pillars from the top – the NIRCam image is practically pulsing with their activity. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old."
The Pillars of Creation are part of the Eagle Nebula located some 6,500 light-years from our planet.
NASA and the European Space Agency have kept busy with Webb, releasing at least one photography a week from the observatory since it went live earlier this year.
How far can the Webb Telescope see?
We've yet to see just exactly how far Webb can see into space, though it's already returned pictures of corners of the universe that have never been explored.
"If you think about that, this is farther than humanity has ever moved before," NASA administrator Bill Nelson previously said of the JWST. "And we're only beginning to understand what Webb can and will do. It's going to explore objects in the solar system and atmospheres of exoplanets orbiting other stars, giving us clues as to whether potentially their atmospheres are similar to our own."
"Our goals for Webb's first images and data are both to showcase the telescope's powerful instruments and to preview the science mission to come," astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist at STScI, added of the images. "They are sure to deliver a long-awaited 'wow' for astronomers and the public."