The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) on Monday released the first image produced by its latest instrument, the James Webb Space Telescope. The image, designated Webb’s First Deep Field, captured the SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster. The picture contains thousands of galaxies. The Webb telescope is now the world’s top space telescope, and is a Nasa-led international programme, the other partners being the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA). It was actually launched by ESA, on an Ariane 5 rocket, from French Guiana, and operates mainly in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. It thus complements other, already operating, space telescopes which operate in the visible, ultraviolet and X-ray ranges, such as the Hubble and Chandra instruments. The Webb is also the largest and most powerful space telescope ever launched.
