James Webb Telescope: 21 Images That Will Blow Your Mind

What appears to be a single galaxy is actually two that are very far apart! The closer galaxy lies in the center of the image, while the more distant galaxy appears to be wrapped around it in a phenomenon we call an “Einstein ring.” (Image: NASA)

Webb is “running rings” around this planetary nebula, NGC 1514, bringing it into sharp focus with this new mid-infrared look. At the center are a pair of stars, one of which shed its layers of dust and gas as it neared the end of its life cycle. (Image: NASA)

This outflow from a newly forming star gives this Herbig-Haro object (HH 49/50) its nickname, the “cosmic tornado.” This pillar of gas and dust looks like it’s topped by a galaxy, but perspective makes all the difference here. In reality, this galaxy is light years away from HH 49/50 and completely unassociated with it! (Image: NASA)

The Flame Nebula lies in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex and is home to cosmic objects that are not quite planets, but are also so small their cores can’t sustain fusing hydrogen like full-fledged stars do – brown dwarfs. (Image: NASA)

A binary pair of actively forming stars is responsible for this shimmering hourglass of gas and dust. Here, Webb’s ability to see near-infrared light reveals incredible detail and structure in Lynds 483 (L483). (Image: NASA)

Webb’s new view of barred spiral galaxy NGC 2283 was captured in just 10 minutes of observing time, showcasing the light from clouds of hydrogen gas heated by young stars, as well as the stars themselves. (Image: NASA)

This new Webb image shows an edge-on protoplanetary disc around a newly formed star, surrounded by jets and a disc wind, in unprecedented detail. This is a Herbig-Haro object, known for having luminous regions that surround protostars. (Image: NASA)

This terrifying new image combines data from both telescopes, unveiling a scary pair of “eyes” in space. These eyes are actually the cores of two galaxies. The smaller spiral galaxy on the left is IC 2163. It has been slowly “creeping” behind the larger galaxy, NGC 2207. (Image: NASA)

Here is Webb’s look at Westerlund 1, one of the closest clusters of its kind. Super star clusters are young and contain more than 10,000 times the mass of the Sun packed into a small volume. (Image: NASA)

NGC 1333 is a nearby star-forming region. Webb’s sharp infrared vision lets us peer through the dusty veil to reveal newborn stars, brown dwarfs, and planetary mass objects. (Image: NASA)

Astronomers nicknamed this region of star formation the “Cosmic Cliffs,” which is found in the nearby Carina Nebula. (Image: NASA)

The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant has been observed for more than 2 million seconds since the start of the Chandra mission in 1999. X-rays from Chandra (blue); infrared from Webb (orange, white, and blue) (Image: NASA)

WR 124 is a rare type of Wolf-Rayet star, a bright, massive star experiencing a short-lived phase in its evolution. A dense wind from the star may prevent the detection with Chandra of a neutron star companion. (Image: NASA)

This region of star formation contains the Pillars of Creation, which was made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope. (Image: NASA)

Rho Ophiuchi is a cloud complex filled with gas and stars of different sizes and ages. Being one of the closest star-forming regions, Rho Ophiuchi is a great place for astronomers to study young stars. (Image: NASA)

Webb is cracking open the Crab Nebula to help scientists figure out what is inside. The Crab is the remnant of what was once a massive star, but it’s highly unusual in composition, making scientists think its star might not have been typical either. (Image: NASA)

Webb took a look at “starburst” galaxy NGC 4449, located 12.5 million light years away. Starbursts are intense periods of star formation usually concentrated at a galaxy’s core, but NGC 4449’s activity is much more widespread — likely due to past interactions with its galactic neighbors. (Image: NASA)

Spiral galaxy NGC 1512 is 30 million light-years away in the constellation Horologium. (Image: NASA)

These new images reveal detailed features of Uranus’s seasonal north polar cap, as well as bright storms near and below the southern border of the cap. (Image: NASA)

Behind the curtain of dust and gas in these “Cosmic Cliffs” are previously hidden baby stars, now uncovered by Webb. (Image: NASA)

Webb’s sharp infrared eye found this record-breaking brown dwarf in star cluster IC 348, which is about 1000 light-years away and only 5 million years old. (Image: NASA)