From first images from the Hubble to the James Webb telescope, here's how far we've come in three decades

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From first images from the Hubble to the James Webb telescope, here's how far we've come in three decades
First images captured by Hubble and James Webb.NASA
  • The first image captured by the James Webb telescope has been released to the public.
  • The image shows thousands of galaxies as they appeared 4.6 billion years ago.
  • As James Webb captured its first image, we reminisce about the first image captured by the Hubble telescope in 1990.
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American president Joe Biden has finally revealed the first color image captured by the James Webb Telescope, the world’s most powerful telescope. The image captures the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field.

The image reveals thousands of galaxies, which is still only a tiny sliver of the vast universe. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that the image “covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground”.

Seeing the first image from the James Webb telescope is a good time to reminisce about the first image captured by the Hubble telescope and compare it with the James Webb images to see how far we’ve come.

The Hubble Telescope released its first image in May 1990, over 3 decades ago. The image, dubbed the “First Light”, showcases an area of the sky with a few stars.

The image has been compared with an image captured by the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile of the same area in the sky. The image from Hubble was much clearer and the overlap of stars caused due to the smearing effect of Earth's atmosphere was removed.

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From an image that looked like a few specks in the sky, we now have an image that has captured thousands of galaxies as they appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The new image is much more clear, colorful, and detailed when compared to the image captured by the Hubble telescope. The image captured by the James Webb telescope has revealed tiny structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.

NASA is set to reveal more images captured by the James Webb telescope, giving us a better look at other galaxies.

It is to be noted that there have been improvements to the Hubble Telescope over the years.

SEE ALSO:

NASA's first full-color image from the James Webb Space Telescope peers further back in time than any prior infrared lens, revealing 13 billion years of galaxies

A stunning photo from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals 3 galaxies colliding

NASA's powerful James Webb Space Telescope reached its destination 1 million miles from Earth

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