Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. James Webb Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope

The Pillars of Creation, imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope

Webb Telescope gets the star treatment in new NASA documentary

NASA has just released a new documentary about the most powerful space telescope ever built, and you can watch it now.
Entertainment
Trevor Mogg
Pullout of aurora observations on Jupiter

James Webb spots a gorgeous glowing light show on Jupiter

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
This artist’s concept shows what the hot sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-421 b could look like.

James Webb hunts for a haze-less exoplanet to answer longstanding mystery

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
This new Picture of the Month from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features an astounding number of galaxies. The objects in this frame span an incredible range of distances, from stars within our own Milky Way, marked by diffraction spikes, to galaxies billions of light-years away.

James Webb captures another stunning image of thousands of distant galaxies

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has taken the most detailed image of planetary nebula NGC 1514 to date thanks to its unique mid-infrared observations. Webb shows its rings as “fuzzy,” intricate clumps of dust. It’s also easier to see holes punched through the bright pink central region.

James Webb observes a dying star creating a cosmic hourglass

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s observations of what is thought to be the first ever recorded planetary engulfment event revealed a hot accretion disk surrounding the star, with an expanding cloud of cooler dust enveloping the scene. Webb also revealed that the star did not swell to swallow the planet, but the planet’s orbit actually slowly decayed over time.

James Webb observes what happens when a planet is swallowed by a star

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
This new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month features a rare cosmic phenomenon called an Einstein ring. What at first appears to be a single, strangely shaped galaxy is actually two galaxies that are separated by a large distance. The closer foreground galaxy sits at the center of the image, while the more distant background galaxy appears to be wrapped around the closer galaxy, forming a ring.

James Webb captures a rare astronomical ring in the sky

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope observed Herbig-Haro 49/50, an outflow from a nearby still-forming star, in high-resolution near- and mid-infrared light with the NIRCam and MIRI instruments. The intricate features of the outflow, represented in reddish-orange color, provide detailed clues about how young stars form and how their jet activity affects the environment around them. A chance alignment in this direction of the sky provides a beautiful juxtaposition of this nearby Herbig-Haro object (located within our Milky Way) with a more distant, face-on spiral galaxy in the background.

James Webb captures gorgeous image of a Cosmic Tornado

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
Saturn captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA’s Webb telescope peers straight at Saturn-like planets 130 light-years away

Space
Tushar Mehta
Space
Tushar Mehta
Webb's image of the Flame Nebula

James Webb captures a stunning view of the dreamy Flame Nebula

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
A new USPS stamp featuring an image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Gorgeous James Webb Space Telescope images land on new U.S. stamps

Space
Trevor Mogg
Space
Trevor Mogg
This image shows the Spiderweb protocluster as seen by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera).

James Webb spots ancient Spiderweb cluster that’s 10 billion years old

Space
Georgina Torbet
Space
Georgina Torbet
Featured in this NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month is the spiral galaxy NGC 2090, located in the constellation Columba. This combination of data from Webb’s MIRI and NIRCam instruments shows the galaxy’s two winding spiral arms and the swirling gas and dust of its disc in magnificent and unique detail.

Webb and Hubble snap the same object for two views of one galaxy

Two different space telescopes have looked at the same galaxy, so you can see the difference in how they observe the universe.
Georgina Torbet
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero galaxy with its MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), resolving the clumpy nature of the dust along the galaxy’s outer ring. The mid-infrared light highlights the gas and dust that are part of star formation taking place among the Sombrero galaxy’s outer disk. The rings of the Sombrero galaxy produce less than one solar mass of stars per year, in comparison to the Milky Way’s roughly two solar masses a year. It’s not a particular hotbed of star formation. The Sombrero galaxy is around 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo.

Stunning view of the Sombrero Galaxy captured by James Webb

The James Webb Space Telescope recently captured a new image of a galaxy famously named after the Mexican hat style.
Georgina Torbet
The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, and visible and ultraviolet light from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, catalogued as IC 2163, passed behind NGC 2207, the larger spiral galaxy at right. Both have increased star formation rates. Combined, they are estimated to form the equivalent of two dozen new stars that are the size of the Sun annually. Our Milky Way galaxy forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-like stars per year. Both galaxies have hosted seven known supernovae, each of which may have cleared space in their arms, rearranging gas and dust that later cooled, and allowed many new stars to form. (Find these areas by looking for the bluest regions).

Creepy cosmic eyes stare out from space in Webb and Hubble image

In time for Halloween, the Webb and Hubble space telescopes have worked together to image a creepy pair of cosmic eyes.
Georgina Torbet
An artist’s conception of the “steam world” GJ 9827 d, shown in the foreground in blue.

James Webb discovers a new type of exoplanet: an exotic ‘steam world’

Researchers using James Webb have identified a new and exotic type of planet called a steam world, with an atmosphere almost entirely composed of water vapor.
Georgina Torbet
The newly-discovered GS-NDG-9422 galaxy appears as a faint blur in this James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image. It could help astronomers better understand galaxy evolution in the early Universe.

‘That’s weird’: This galaxy could help astronomers understand the earliest stars

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted a weird galaxy that originated just a billion years after the Big Bang.
Georgina Torbet
This composite image of Arp 107, created with data from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) and MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument), reveals a wealth of information about the star formation taking place in these two galaxies and how they collided hundreds of million years ago. The near-infrared data, shown in white, show older stars, which shine brightly in both galaxies, as well as the tenuous gas bridge that runs between them. The vibrant background galaxies are also brightly illuminated at these wavelengths.

James Webb image shows two galaxies in the process of colliding

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope captures one of the universe's most dramatic events: the colliding of two galaxies.
Georgina Torbet
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has observed the very outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy. Known as the Extreme Outer Galaxy, this region is located more than 58 000 light-years from the Galactic centre.

James Webb trains its sights on the Extreme Outer Galaxy

A gorgeous new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a bustling region of star formation at the distant edge of the Milky Way.
Georgina Torbet
The galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154 is so massive it is warping the fabric of space-time and distorting the appearance of galaxies behind it, an effect known as gravitational lensing. This natural phenomenon magnifies distant galaxies and can also make them appear in an image multiple times, as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope saw here.

James Webb spots another pair of galaxies forming a question mark

Webb has stumbled across a question mark-shaped galaxy, and the reasons for its uniqueness reveal how the telescope looks at some of the most distant galaxies.
Georgina Torbet
This image shows a small portion of the field observed by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) for the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey. It is filled with galaxies. The light from some of them has traveled for over 13 billion years to reach the telescope.

James Webb is explaining the puzzle of some of the earliest galaxies

Webb has been causing bafflement in the field of cosmology. But the problem isn't that the universe is broken — it's that early black holes were playing tricks.
Georgina Torbet
Featured in this new image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope is Messier 106, also known as NGC 4258. This is a nearby spiral galaxy that resides roughly 23 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, practically a neighbour by cosmic standards. Messier 106 is one of the brightest and nearest spiral galaxies to our own and two supernovae have been observed in this galaxy in 1981 and 2014.

James Webb Telescope captures gorgeous galaxy with a hungry monster at its heart

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows off a nearby galaxy called Messier 106.
Georgina Torbet
Artist’s impression of a cold gas giant orbiting a red dwarf. Only a point of light is visible on the JWST/MIRI images. Nevertheless, the initial analysis suggests the presence of a gaseous planet that may have properties similar to Jupiter.

James Webb takes rare direct image of a nearby super-Jupiter

The James Webb Space Telescope has directly imaged a gas giant beyond our solar system, and it's one of the coldest exoplanets observed so far.
Georgina Torbet
webb wasp 39b dayside nightside stsci 01j2f12rm1s3n39yj938nhsf93 png

One half of this wild exoplanet reaches temperatures of 1,450 degrees Fahrenheit

On the planet WASP-39 b, one side is in perpetual morning and the other is in perpetual evening.
Georgina Torbet
This “penguin party” is loud! The distorted spiral galaxy at center, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. A new near- and mid-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, taken to mark its second year of science, shows that their interaction is marked by a faint upside-down U-shaped blue glow.

Webb captures a Penguin and an Egg for its two-year anniversary

Today, July 12, marks two years since the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope were unveiled, and scientists have release a new image to celebrate.
Georgina Torbet
L1527, shown in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), is a molecular cloud that harbors a protostar. It resides about 460 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. The more diffuse blue light and the filamentary structures in the image come from organic compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), while the red at the center of this image is an energized, thick layer of gases and dust that surrounds the protostar. The region in between, which shows up in white, is a mixture of PAHs, ionized gas, and other molecules.

James Webb snaps a colorful image of a star in the process of forming

A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a young star called a protostar and its outflows of dust and gas.
Georgina Torbet
This image is a mosaic of visible-light and infrared-light views of the same frame from the Pillars of Creation visualization. The three-dimensional model of the pillars created for the visualization sequence is alternately shown in the Hubble Space Telescope version (visible light) and the Webb Space Telescope version (infrared light).

See a stunning 3D visualization of astronomy’s most beautiful object

NASA has created a 3D visualization of the beautiful Pillars of Creation, using data from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes.
Georgina Torbet
This image shows the centre of the Serpens Nebula as seen by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam).

Gorgeous Webb image of Serpens Nebula shows a strange alignment

A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the famous Serpens Nebula, a dense star-forming region.
Georgina Torbet
This artist’s concept shows two young stars nearing the end of their formation. Encircling the stars are disks of leftover gas and dust from which planets may form. Jets of gas shoot away from the stars’ north and south poles.

Well-known star turns out to be not one star, but twins

Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope revealed that a particular star turned out not to be a single star at all, but actually a pair.
Georgina Torbet
JADES (NIRCam Image with Pullout). The NIRCam data was used to determine which galaxies to study further with spectroscopic observations. One such galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0 (shown in the pullout), was determined to be at a redshift of 14.32 (+0.08/-0.20), making it the current record-holder for the most distant known galaxy. This corresponds to a time less than 300 million years after the big bang.

James Webb discovers the most distant galaxy ever observed

Researchers using James Webb have discovered the most distant known galaxy to date. It existed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
Georgina Torbet
This artist’s concept shows what the exoplanet 55 Cancri e could look like. Also called Janssen, 55 Cancri e is a so-called super-Earth, a rocky planet significantly larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, which orbits its star at a distance of only 2.25 million kilometres (0.015 astronomical units), completing one full orbit in less than 18 hours. In comparison, Mercury is 25 times farther from the Sun than 55 Cancri e is from its star. The system, which also includes four large gas-giant planets, is located about 41 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cancer.

James Webb telescope peers at the atmosphere of a rocky hell world

The James Webb Space Telescope recently investigated an exoplanet that could have the first atmosphere of a rocky planet discovered outside the solar system.
Georgina Torbet
This artist’s concept shows what the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b could look like. WASP-43 b is a Jupiter-sized planet circling a star roughly 280 light-years away, in the constellation Sextans. The planet orbits at a distance of about 1.3 million miles (0.014 astronomical units, or AU), completing one circuit in about 19.5 hours. Because it is so close to its star, WASP-43 b is probably tidally locked: its rotation rate and orbital period are the same, such that one side faces the star at all times.

James Webb observes extremely hot exoplanet with 5,000 mph winds

Astronomers using the James Webb telescope have modeled the weather on a distant exoplanet, revealing winds whipping around at speeds of 5,000 miles per hour.
Georgina Torbet
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. Webb’s new images show part of the sky in the constellation Orion (The Hunter), in the western side of the Orion B molecular cloud. Rising from turbulent waves of dust and gas is the Horsehead Nebula, otherwise known as Barnard 33, which resides roughly 1300 light-years away.

James Webb captures the edge of the beautiful Horsehead Nebula

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the sharpest infrared view to date of a portion of the famous Horsehead Nebula.
Georgina Torbet
A team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), which is located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. M82 hosts a frenzy of star formation, sprouting new stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy. Webb’s infrared capabilities enabled scientists to peer through curtains of dust and gas that have historically obscured the star formation process. This image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument shows the centre of M82 with an unprecedented level of detail. With Webb’s resolution, astronomers can distinguish small, bright compact sources that are either individual stars or star clusters. Obtaining an accurate count of the stars and clusters that compose M82’s centre can help astronomers understand the different phases of star formation and the timelines for each stage.

James Webb images capture the galactic winds of newborn stars

A stunning new pair of images from the James Webb Space Telescope show a new view of a familiar galaxy: Messier 82.
Georgina Torbet
This image of NGC 5468, a galaxy located about 130 million light-years from Earth, combines data from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. This is the most distant galaxy in which Hubble has identified Cepheid variable stars. These are important milepost markers for measuring the expansion rate of the Universe. The distance calculated from Cepheids has been cross-correlated with a Type Ia supernova in the galaxy. Type Ia supernovae are so bright they are used to measure cosmic distances far beyond the range of the Cepheids, extending measurements of the Universe’s expansion rate deeper into space.

The expansion rate of the universe still has scientists baffled

The question of how fast the universe is expanding confounds scientists, and new research using James Webb and Hubble doesn't make the answer any clearer.
Georgina Torbet
james webb hubble live tracker screenshot 2024 03 06 220259

See what James Webb and Hubble are observing right now with this tool

If you're looking for a relaxing way to observe the fascinating sights of space on your lunch break, then a newly updated tool from NASA has you covered.
Georgina Torbet
Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured this detailed image of SN 1987A (Supernova 1987A). At the center, material ejected from the supernova forms a keyhole shape. Just to its left and right are faint crescents newly discovered by Webb. Beyond them an equatorial ring, formed from material ejected tens of thousands of years before the supernova explosion, contains bright hot spots. Exterior to that is diffuse emission and two faint outer rings. In this image blue represents light at 1.5 microns (F150W), cyan 1.64 and 2.0 microns (F164N, F200W), yellow 3.23 microns (F323N), orange 4.05 microns (F405N), and red 4.44 microns (F444W).

This famous supernova remnant is hiding a secret

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have peered into the famous SN 1987A supernova remnant and found something special inside.
Georgina Torbet
This collection of 19 face-on spiral galaxies from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope in near- and mid-infrared light is at once overwhelming and awe-inspiring. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured millions of stars in these images. Older stars appear blue here, and are clustered at the galaxies’ cores. The telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) observations highlight glowing dust, showing where it exists around and between stars – appearing in shades of red and orange. Stars that haven’t yet fully formed and are encased in gas and dust appear bright red.

See 19 gorgeous face-on spiral galaxies in new James Webb data

A stunning new set of images from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the variety of forms that exist within spiral galaxies like our Milky Way
Georgina Torbet
123456Archive
Next