James Webb images to CHANGE understanding of universe: ‘Exceeded wildest expectations!’

Nasa's 'James Webb Space Telescope' launches into orbit

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Webb’s first full-colour image was published at 10.30pm yesterday, with more to be unveiled this afternoon. US President Joe Biden did the honours at a preview event at the White House which was live-streamed by NASA TV. Commenting before the pictures were published, Dr Olivia Jones, a Webb Fellow with UK Government agency the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) fully admitted she was struggling to contain her excitement.

She said: “The Webb data is going to give us a fundamental change in our knowledge of the universe.

“It’s such a versatile and fantastically sensitively telescope that we’ll hopefully be able to see the very first light ever in the universe.

“So from that ‘let there be light moment’ when the light switch is on and before was the cosmic Dark Ages.“

No telescope had ever been able to go back that far, Dr Jones stressed.

It will also reveal nearby solar systems, and Earth’s own solar system and nearby planets, in stunning detail.

Dr Jones said: “We’ll be able to see not just the images and pictures but we’ll also be able to see spectra, which is essentially rainbows of light.

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“We will be able to detect their atmospheres for the very first time and look at molecules like carbon monoxide and water and ice.

“So Webb is fantastic because we can see that whole range of things from nearby to us that very first moment in the very dawn of the universe, and everything in between.”

Dr Jones said: “I’m very excited for this, I think we’re going to learn a lot about the universe, from what we already know.

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“And I think we’re also going to gain a lot of new questions, where we can explore new things, and I can’t wait.

“It is a humongous leap forward, I feel like a kid in a candy store.

“The possibilities are endless and I am much more excited about tomorrow than I was this Christmas when it was actually launch day when I was absolutely terrified.

“It’s exceeding our wildest expectations, it is doing much better than our best estimates. It is more sensitive, it got better calibration, so we can see deeper, faster and I’m very excited by this. The discovery is going to be enormous.”

The James Webb Telescope was launched on Christmas Day, 2021 amid a blaze of publicity.

Its vastly superior infrared resolution and sensitivity will enable it to see objects much too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope.

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