Highlights: First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope

On July 12, 2022, NASA showcased the inaugural set of vibrant images and spectrographic data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, the most advanced space observatory, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). This momentous event, streamed live from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, unveiled the extensive capabilities of the telescope to the world.

The event showcased these targets:
- Carina Nebula: A landscape speckled with glittering stars and cosmic cliffs
- Stephan’s Quintet: An enormous mosaic with a visual grouping of five galaxies
- Southern Ring Nebula: A nebula with rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions
- WASP 96-b: A distinct signature of water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet orbiting a distant Sun-like star
- SMACS 0723: The deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date

Credit: NASA