First Image Released From NASA's James Webb Telescope Offers A Glimpse 4.6 Billion Years Into The Universe's Past; Upcoming Images To Go Farther Still

US President Joe Biden on Monday unveiled what is being celebrated as the 'deepest infrared image of universe yet'.

This image was produced by the James Webb telescope deployed in space and according to a NASA release itself, it is 'the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date'.

The release goes on to share that:

'. . Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.

"Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.

"The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it."

(Image credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

'Time travel' through telescope

The James Webb telescope is looking so deep into the universe that it is capturing light that travelled distances for billions of years before hitting the telescope. It is capturing light from almost the very first galaxies of the universe.

This report quotes Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA, as saying that more images to be 'released by the space agency would reach back further, to about 13.5 billion years, close to the estimated start point of the universe itself. “We are going back almost to the beginning,” he said.

For reference, the birth of the Sun is estimated to be around 4.5 billion years ago, and the Big Bang, the beginning of the Universe, is estimated to be around 13.75 billions years ago.

In other words, when you look at the above image, you are looking at a Universe in which the Solar System itself was not yet formed.