The day has finally come: NASA is sharing James Webb Space Telescope’s very first full-color photos! It started as a messy bunch of bright dots, and now only hours away is a magnificent peek into the universe taken with the latest and greatest space telescope. NASA has been building up the hype for quite some time. We followed the different mirror alignment stages, witnessing the telescope’s progress. NASA shared photos taken with Webb’s Infrared Array Camera and Fine Guidance Sensor. And while we were all hyped up for the 12 July announcement, it looks like even NASA was too impatient to wait – so they are releasing the first photos today.
Partnering with European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), NASA will release the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data today, 11 July. Even though the reveal was initially scheduled for 12 July, US President Joe Biden will reveal one of the telescope’s first images today!
The reveal is scheduled for 5 pm EDT (21:00 UTC), broadcasting from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Released one by one, these first images from the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope will demonstrate Webb at its full power, ready to begin its mission to unfold the infrared universe,” NASA writes. Since I don’t live in the US, I will do my absolute best to stay awake for the big reveal. And for you lucky ducks six hours behind me, make sure to find the live stream of the event on NASA TV. [image credits: NASA/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez]
