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NASA reveals stunning images taken by James Webb Space Telescope

NASA's images take a never-before-seen look back in time at the universe.

In Northern Ontario the Northern Lights are often the highlight of the night sky.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has upped the ante.

On Monday and Tuesday the space agency released four images taken by the telescope, a look back at 13 billion years of the history of the universe, the estimated time it’s taken light from the outermost galaxies to reach humanity’s eyes.

NASA says they are the deepest and sharpest infrared images of the distant universe to date.

The first image, SMACS 0723, was released on Monday, igniting a flurry of amazement from around the globe.

According to NASA, the image shows thousands of galaxies that appeared for the first time, depicting a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.

Three more images were released on Tuesday, including the stunning Carina Nebula, which shows a nearby young star-forming region known as NGC 3324 and reveals for the first time invisible areas of star birth.

The region is also known as the Cosmic Cliffs, with peaks seven light years high.

Stephan’s Quintet shows a grouping of five galaxies, best known from being featured in It’s a Wonderful Life, with its sweeping tails of gas, dust and stars being pulled from several of the galaxies because of gravitational interaction.

The Southern Ring Nebula resides about 2,500 light years from Earth and features a simmer star that’s been sending out rings of gas and dust in all directions.

The final image shows a distinct signature of water, along with evidence of clouds and haze, in the atmosphere surrounding a giant planet orbiting a distant sun-like star. It demonstrates the capability of the telescope to analyze atmospheres hundreds of light years away.

The $10-billion space telescope was launched last Christmas.


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Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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