See the universe through the lens of the world's most powerful space telescope in these 20 images.
From day one of observing the universe, the James Webb Space Telescope has been snapping gorgeous pictures of deep space.
The telescope uses infrared light, allowing it to peer past clouds of dust and gas in deep space.
Webb is about 100 times more powerful than NASA's previous landmark space observatory, Hubble.
That's why Webb can peer deeper into space — and further back in time — than any prior telescope. Its first deep-field image (shown here) reveals some of the earliest galaxies in the universe.
By gathering infrared light, Webb is able to cut through cosmic dust and see far into the past, to the first 400 million years after the Big Bang.
Webb shed new light on the iconic Pillars of Creation — giant clouds of gas and dust that constantly birth new stars. In near-infrared light, thousands of stars burst through, including newborn red stars.
In mid-infrared, the dust itself takes center stage.
By combining the data from those two images, NASA rendered a completely new, ethereal portrait of the pillars.
In July, Webb captured the Southern Ring Nebula, an enormous cloud of dust and gas 2,000 light-years away from Earth.
Tendrils of star-forming regions connect the cores of these two merging galaxies and make them much brighter in infrared.
Webb has also pivoted to focus on our solar system, blowing astronomers away with this eerie infrared portrait of Jupiter.
The telescope also captured the faint rings circling Jupiter and auroras glowing at its poles.
Jupiter's moon Europa shined brilliantly in Webb's infrared. Scientists think Europa has a saltwater ocean, deep below its thick ice crust, which could harbor alien life.
Webb even spotted Neptune's rings, which are a rare sight.
It's the best view of the planet's dusty rings since NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Neptune in 1989.
The new image also shows seven of Neptune's 14 known moons. The bright blue feature that looks like a star is actually Neptune's largest moon, Triton.
The infrared telescope also took images of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It's the only moon in our solar system that has a dense atmosphere — four times denser than Earth's.
Webb captured NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft successfully slamming into the asteroid Dimorphos, as part of the first-ever planetary defense test.
In just over five months of scientific operations, Webb has captured several beautiful shots of the cosmos.
Scientists stress it's just the beginning for NASA's most powerful telescope.
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