James Webb Space Telescope unveils spectacular first-anniversary image

A year after the publication of its first pictures of the cosmos, the James Webb Space Telescope delivered a spectacular new image on Wednesday July 12. We see the birth of stars similar to our Sun. Jets of red hydrogen dominate the picture, caused by nascent stars bursting out of their cocoon of dust. It is the closest star-forming region to Earth, 390 light-years away, located in the Rho Ophiuchi gas cloud.

This image, which contains about 50 young stars similar in size to our Sun, “allows us to witness with new clarity a very brief period in the life cycle of stars”explained Klaus Pontoppidan, science program manager for James Webb at the Space Telescope Science Institute. “Our Sun went through a phase like this a long time ago.”

“James Webb transformed humanity’s vision of the cosmos”

On July 12, 2022, the American space agency unveiled the first color images of its new space observatory. The event marked the beginning of the scientific operations of this jewel of technology, evolving 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth.

“In just one year, the James Webb Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmosNASA boss Bill Nelson said in a statement. Each new image is a discovery, encouraging scientists around the world to ask and answer questions they couldn’t even dream of before.” For this first anniversary, NASA has planned to come back to this year of discoveries during a live video broadcast on the internet.