SMACS 0723’s combined mass boosts Webb’s power, acting as a gravitational lens that magnifies the far more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s First Deep Field, as it’s called, is a composite of images at different wavelengths compiled from the telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera in just 12.5 hours. The deepest, sharpest infrared image ever captured of the distant universe reveals a tableau teeming with thousands of galaxies in the cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. After the shot revealed last night by President Biden, scientists released four more amazing images today, the first of many incredible visuals to come. But finally, more than three decades after its conception and after six months in orbit, the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images are delivering an unprecedented look at our Universe. The wait for Webb wasn't quite that long. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained that images like this one, dubbed “Webb’s First Deep Field,” allow us to see the universe as it appeared far in the past-the light captured from these galaxies has been traveling through space for 4.6 billion years. Just a century ago scientists believed there was only one galaxy, but this image reveals thousands-all found in a tiny speck of sky comparable in size to a single grain of sand held on a finger at arm’s length by someone standing on the ground. The deepest, sharpest infrared image ever captured of the distant universe was revealed last night-a stunning display of the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 delivered by the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope.
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