Webb's First Deep Field
Explanation:
This
stunning infrared image
was released
one
year ago
as the James Webb Space Telescope began its exploration of the cosmos.
The
view
of the
early
Universe
toward the southern constellation Volans
was achieved in 12.5 hours of exposure with Webb's NIRCam instrument.
Of course the stars with six spikes are well within our own
Milky Way.
Their diffraction
pattern is characteristic of Webb's 18 hexagonal mirror
segments operating together as a single 6.5 meter diameter primary
mirror.
The thousands of galaxies flooding the field of view are members of the
distant galaxy cluster SMACS0723-73, some 4.6 billion light-years away.
Luminous arcs that seem to infest the deep field are
even more distant galaxies though.
Their images are distorted and magnified by the
dark matter dominated mass of the galaxy cluster, an effect
known as
gravitational lensing.
Analyzing
light
from two separate arcs below the bright spiky star,
Webb's NIRISS instrument indicates the arcs
are both images of the same background galaxy.
And that galaxy's light took about 9.5 billion years to reach the
James Webb Space Telescope.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
