A dying star and a 'cosmic dance': Ancient galaxies revealed in never-seen-before telescope pictures
The incredible images show stars "being born," stars devouring black holes, the aftermath of a dying star, a 4.6 billion-year-old galaxy cluster and the moment two galaxies merge.
A brand new, detailed view of the universe that looks further back into space and time than ever before has been revealed in an extraordinary set of photos.
NASA has released a full set of images from its James Webb Space Telescope, showing what is said to be the "deepest" and most detailed picture of the cosmos to date.
This new view of the universe is possible because the Webb is huge - with a mirror more than twice the size of the previously-used Hubble.
It is the largest and most powerful telescope ever sent into space.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: "Every image is a new discovery and each will give humanity a view of the universe that we've never seen before.''
Jane Rigby, who worked on the project, says this shows them from about the time the sun and Earth formed.
The image has a "sharpness and clarity" we've never had before, she says, and under a close-up, it is possible to see "individual clusters of stars forming, just popping up like popcorn".
Although if it looks a bit familiar, it's because it was first revealed by NASA as a teaser yesterday.
Sky's science and technology editor Tom Clarke says this is a long exposure photo of a tiny patch of the universe.
"If you held out your arm outstretched with a grain of sand on your finger- that's the size of the patch of sky this image covers," he says…
news.sky.com
