Incredible images from the Webb Space Telescope have been released to mark the one-year anniversary of its beginning galactic operation.
NASA released this image on Wednesday showing the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth, about 390 light-years away.
NASA said the image captured about 50 stars, some of which are similar in mass to our sun.
Launched on December 25, 2021, it will be the largest telescope in space and will be able to see space objects that are too old, distant or faint for its predecessor, Hubble.
Its first images were released to the public a year ago – Show galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 Detail is crisp and is largely considered to be one of the most detailed images of space ever created.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: “In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the universe, peering into dust clouds and seeing Light from the far corners of the universe first.
“Each new image is a new discovery, enabling scientists around the world to ask and answer questions they had never dreamed of before.”
“Webb’s image of Rho Ophiuchus allows us to witness a very brief period in a star’s life cycle with new clarity,” said Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb Project Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
“Our own Sun went through such a phase long ago, and now we have the technology to see the beginning of another star’s story.”
In its mission, it is hoped that it will one day be able to see the light from the Big Bang and study the origin of life in planetary systems.
Telescopes have sent back images so far Uranus and Neptuneand ice clouds about 500 light-years from Earth.