“It’s really hard to not look at the universe in new light and not just have a moment that is deeply personal.”
Thomas Zurbuchen,NASA science mission chief
Released on Tuesday morning (AEST) at a White House event,the image is filled with stars,with massive galaxies in the foreground and faint and extremely distant galaxies peeking through here and there. Part of the image is light from after the Big Bang,which was 13.8 billion years ago.
US President Joe Biden marvelled at the image that he said showed “the oldest documented light in the history of the universe from over 13 billion – let me say that again – 13 billion years ago. It’s hard to fathom.”
Four more galactic beauty shots from the telescope’s initial outward gazes are due to be released early on Wednesday morning.
These include a view of a giant gaseous planet outside our solar system,two images of a nebula where stars are born and die in spectacular beauty,and an update of a classic image of five tightly clustered galaxies that dance around each other.
Biden said the capabilities of the new telescope were astounding and spoke with excitement about the four images still to come.