NASA has posted the full, high-resolution photos online. The photos feature giant nebulas, thousands of distant galaxies, a black hole, and a binary star. These are parts of the cosmos that have never been seen by human eyes before.
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How Does the James Webb Space Telescope Work?
How does the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) get these stunning photos? There’s a lot of incredibly sophisticated equipment on the telescope for its 20+ years of potential observation in space.
The JWST is designed to capture infrared light. That means it can see deeper into the universe than previous space telescopes. The infrared light is collected by a massive 6.6 meter (21 feet) array of gold-coated mirrors.
The light is reflected from the massive mirror array into a smaller secondary mirror. The secondary mirror then directs the light into the scientific instruments. All of these delicate instruments are protected from the heat of the sun by five layers of shielding that unfurled in space.
Download the James Webb Space Telescope Images
As mentioned, NASA has provided beautiful high-resolution photos from the JWST for anyone to download. All of the photos can be found on the Webb Telescope’s official website. Each photo is available in a few different resolutions and file types.
Carina Nebula
Full Res, 14575 X 8441, TIF (136. 99 MB) Full Res, 14575 X 8441, PNG (124. 71 MB) 2000 X 1158, PNG (3. 33 MB)
Stephan’s Quintet
Full Res, 12654 X 12132, TIF (150. 67 MB) Full Res, 12654 X 12132, PNG (181. 64 MB) 2000 X 1917, PNG (4. 47 MB) NIRCam Only, Full Res, 12654 X 12132, TIF (160. 01 MB) NIRCam Only, Full Res, 12654 X 12132, PNG (172. 05 MB) NIRCam Only, 2000 X 1917, PNG (4. 88 MB)
Southern Ring Nebula
Full Res, 9284 X 4310, TIF (33. 04 MB) Full Res, 9284 X 4310, PNG (29. 12 MB) 2000 X 928, PNG (2. 11 MB)
Galaxy Cluster SMACS 0723
Full Res, 4537 X 4630, TIF (26. 74 MB) Full Res, 4537 X 4630, PNG (28. 51 MB) 1960 X 2000, PNG (5. 52 MB)
This is an exciting time for people who love space. These photos are just the tip of the iceberg for what we can expect from the JWST in the next couple of decades (hopefully).
