The first infrared image produced by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. /NASA
NASA on Tuesday showcased the first full-color images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, following its six-month process to unfurl all the components of the newly launched apparatus, align its mirrors and calibrate its instruments.
Taken by Webb's Near-Infrared Camera, the image – dubbed as Webb's First Deep Field – captured thousands of galaxies in sharp detail.
The deep field is a composite of images at different wavelength which together showcases the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, according to NASA.
An illustration of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope fully unfolded in space. /NASA
Webb's 6.5-meter gold-coated primary mirror consists of 18 individual hexagonal segments and is protected by a five-layered sunshield the size of a tennis court. The $10 billion project is the world's largest and most powerful space observatory ever built.
Operating at the Earth-sun Lagrange point 2, a point that's nearly 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from Earth, Webb's infrared eyes will scan the cosmos and can see through roughly 13 billion years ago as it takes time for light to travel through space.
The telescope was launched into space by an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, in December last year.
