James Webb Space Telescope
Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the history of our Universe.
![A montage of the Webb Space Telescope over a composited background of stars and galaxies.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/jwst-spacecraftpotentialtargetsmontageflip-1200px-4-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png)
Key Facts
Featured Image/Article
It got called the crisis in cosmology. But now astronomers can explain some surprising recent discoveries.
When astronomers got their first glimpses of galaxies in the early universe from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, they were expecting to find galactic pipsqueaks, but instead they found what appeared to be a bevy of Olympic bodybuilders. Some galaxies appeared to have grown so massive, so quickly, that simulations couldn’t account for them. Some researchers suggested this meant that something might be wrong with the theory that explains what the universe is made of and how it has evolved since the big bang, known as the standard model of cosmology.
![Hundreds of small galaxies against the black background of space. Several white spiral galaxies are near image center. Most of the galaxies are various shades of orange and red, and many are too tiny to discern a shape. A handful of foreground stars show Webb's six diffraction spikes.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/webb-stsci-01j5e8amb8mxg6p8bbqjxa93fd-2k.png?w=4096&format=png)
Latest News
Webb's latest news releases in reverse chronological order. Search and sort the news feed with the controls immediately below.
![Hundreds of small galaxies against the black background of space. Several white spiral galaxies are near image center. Most of the galaxies are various shades of orange and red, and many are too tiny to discern a shape. A handful of foreground stars show Webb's six diffraction spikes.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/webb-stsci-01j5e8amb8mxg6p8bbqjxa93fd-2k.png?w=4096&format=png)
Webb Finds Early Galaxies Weren’t Too Big for Their Britches After All
It got called the crisis in cosmology. But now astronomers can explain some surprising recent discoveries. When astronomers got their first glimpses of galaxies in the early universe from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, they were expecting to find galactic…
![Side-by-side images of the Pillars of Creation from Hubble (left) and Webb (right). In the visible view from Hubble, the pillars appear thick, dusty, and brown with yellow streamers along their edges. The background of this Hubble image is like a sunrise, beginning in yellows at the bottom, before transitioning to light green and deeper blues at the top. In Webb's near-infrared view, the pillars appear brighter in orange and yellowish tones, with fainter blue streamers along the edges. The background in Webb’s image appears in blue hues with a many more stars than can be seen in visible light.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/nasas-uol-astroviz-highlight-figure-1-jai-jeter.png?w=4096&format=png)
AstroViz: Iconic Pillars of Creation Star in NASA’s New 3D Visualization
NASA’s Universe of Learning – a partnership among the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Caltech/IPAC, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and part of the NASA Science Activation program portfolio – recently released…
![](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/early-universe.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
How NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Illuminate Cosmic Dawn
Today, enormous stretches of space are crystal clear, but that wasn’t always the case. During its infancy, the universe was filled with a “fog” that made it opaque, cloaking the first stars and galaxies. NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space…
![This image shows the exoplanet Epsilon Indi Ab. The image is mostly black, with blue scale-like features apparent in the central region of the image. At the center of the image, there is a black circle, and in the center, a symbol representing a star. This black circle blocks the light from the host star. To the lower left of the circle is a fuzzy bright orange circle, which is the exoplanet.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/webb-miri-stsci-01j09eekkazc0hdyyfq9vtrngk-2k.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
NASA’s Webb Images Cold Exoplanet 12 Light-Years Away
An international team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has directly imaged an exoplanet roughly 12 light-years from Earth. The planet, Epsilon Indi Ab, is one of the coldest exoplanets observed to date. The planet is several times…
Webb's Blog
Webb's Blog posts offer an insider's point of view covering a variety of topics that include exciting Webb science images/spectra that are not yet peer reviewed and therefore not released as NASA feature articles ( IE the above official Webb News Feed). Blog posts are often co-authored by scientists and engineers and offer unique insights.
Read Webb's Blog![The background is mostly dark. At the center is a dark orange-brown circle, surrounded by several blazing bright, thick, horizontal whiteish rings. This is Saturn and its rings. There are three tiny dots in the image—one to the upper left of the planet, one to the direct left of the planet, and the lower left of the planet. These are three of Saturn’s moons: Dione, Enceladus, and Tethys, respectively. There is a slightly darker tint at the northern and southern poles of the planet. The rings surrounding Saturn are mostly broad, with a few singular narrow gaps between the broader rings. There is an innermost, thicker ring, and next to that is a brighter, wider ring. Traveling farther outward, there is a small dark gap before another thicker ring. In the thicker ring, there is a narrow faint band. There is then an outermost, faintest, thinnest ring.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/webb-flickr-53013132440-a5d066b36f-k-slice.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Latest Webb Blog
Reconnaissance of Potentially Habitable Worlds with NASA’s Webb
Small exoplanets are common in our galaxy, and some even orbit in the so-called habitable zone of their star. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has been busy observing a few of these small, potentially habitable planets, and astronomers are now hard at work analyzing Webb data. We invite Drs. Knicole Colón and Christopher Stark, two Webb project scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, to tell us more about the challenges in studying these other worlds.
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Latest 2024 Images
The image below is a SLIDESHOW. Hover over the image to see the image title and controls. Click the image to go to a detail page with more info and the ability to download the image at various resolutions (click downward arrow in lower right corner).
More Webb Images
What is Webb Observing?
See current, upcoming and recent past observations scientists are making with the Webb Space Telescope. View details about each observation's science focus areas, the instruments used and more.
View the Tool![Two side-by-side images of the same region of space. Superimposed on each is a simple, white line drawing of a telescope. Left: Drawing of the Hubble Space Telescope on a Hubble image showing numerous stars and a hazy blue to brown cloud of gas and dust. Right: Drawing of the Webb Space Telescope on a Webb image showing numerous stars and a pinkish yellow to brown cloud of gas and dust. The Webb image shows a more filamentous and billowy structure. There is no clear boundary between the two images.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/hubble-webb-observing-tool-logo-stsci-01hq194v8ts6pavzzwsxvdx6dz.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
The Webb Mission
Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.
Learn More![A Engineer looks over one of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/webb-flickr-4808870003-8558a2628a-k-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png)
Webb's Science Goals
The James Webb Space Telescope is a giant leap forward in our quest to understand the Universe and our origins. Webb is examining every phase of cosmic history: from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our own solar system. Learn about the 4 main science themes for Webb.
Learn More![This image is from Webb’s NIRCam instrument, which saw this nebula in the near-infrared.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/webb-flickr-52212049510-bb98d2eab6-5k-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png)
The Spacecraft
The Webb Space Telescope is the largest, most powerful and most complex telescope ever launched into space . It's design and development history stretches back before the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. Learn about the design, the major components and subsystems of Webb and see Webb in 3d in a 3d Solar System.
Learn More![Webb Spacecraft Rendering](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Webb_1.png?w=4096&format=png)
The International Webb Team
Webb is for the world, and from the world. Thousands of skilled scientists, engineers and technicians from 14 countries (and more than 29 U.S. states, and Washington, D.C.) contributed to the design, build, test, integration, launch, commissioning and operations of Webb. It is a joint NASA/ESA/CSA mission. Assembly and testing of the mirror and instruments occurred at NASA Goddard (GSFC).
Learn More![A full disk view of the earth from GOES 16, GOES East on the vernal Equinox.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/goes16-vernalequinox-flickr50209599563-99acbeb180-b.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)