Four more images from the James Webb Space Telescope were released Tuesday, adding stunning visual details of the universe on the heels of Monday’s big reveal.
The first image from the $10 billion telescope was unveiled Monday at a White House event with President Joe Biden and NASA officials. The first image provided the deepest-ever view of the universe.
Here are the images released Tuesday — which include something special for fans of a certain classic holiday film.
Image 2: Called “Exoplanet: WASP-96 B,” this image captures “the distinct signature of water, along with evidence for clouds and haze, in the atmosphere surrounding a hot, puffy gas giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like star,” according to NASA.
Image 3: Called “Stellar Death: Planetary Nebula NGC 3132,” this image shows a “dimmer star at the center of this scene” which “has been sending out rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions,” per NASA.
Image 4: Called “Interacting Galaxies: Stephan’s Quintet,” this image features “a visual grouping of five galaxies” that were featured in the Christmas film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” according to NASA.
Image 5: Called “Star Forming Region: NGC 3324 In Carina Nebula,” what looks to be a “landscape of ‘mountains’ and ‘valleys’ speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region,” per NASA.
Where is Webb?
- NASA’s James Webb tracker shows the telescope’s progress from launch in December to the release of the first images in July. The steps have included deployment, cooldown and instrument commissioning.
- The James Webb Space Telescope is the more advanced and capable successor to the Hubble Telescope, which is still in operation.