James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)Engineers on the ground will remotely orchestrate a complex sequence of deployments in the hours and days immediately after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. This animation shows the nominal sequence for these deployments.
Music Credit: Universal Production Music "Connecting Ideas Instrumental"
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Lead Animator
James Webb Space Telescope Deployment Sequence (Nominal)James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2021-11-12 | Engineers on the ground will remotely orchestrate a complex sequence of deployments in the hours and days immediately after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. This animation shows the nominal sequence for these deployments.
Music Credit: Universal Production Music "Connecting Ideas Instrumental"
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Lead Animator
The journey begins and ends on a new mid- and near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, and includes a fade to the mid-infrared view from Webb.
Webb has captured the pair of galaxies in the process of merging, which will take hundreds of millions of years.
Credits:
Video: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)Take a Tour of the Horsehead NebulaJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-08-29 | Dr. Macarena Garcia Marin presents the latest JWST images of the Horsehead Nebula, showcasing the intricate details and structures that were previously unseen.
These new observations offer deeper insights into the formation and evolution of this iconic nebula, enriching our understanding of stellar nurseries.
The discussion also highlights the scientific significance of these findings, bringing complex astrophysical concepts into clearer focus.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Thaddeus Cesari: Script
Image Credits: NASA/Webb, CSA, ESA, ESA/Euclid, Euclid Consortium, ESO, Digitized Sky Survey 2, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. De Martin, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), K. Misselt (University of Arizona) and A. Abergel (IAS/University Paris-Saclay, CNRS)
Music Credit: "One Way Journey" by Timothy James Cornick [PRS] and Matthew Jacob Loveridge [PRS] via BBC Production Music [PRS], and Universal Production Music.
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14663. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14663. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Webb Telescope YouTube channel: youtube.com/@NASAWebbTelescope/featuredA Tour of Arp 142James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-07-12 | This video tours Arp 142, an interacting galaxy pair affectionately known as the Penguin and the Egg that lies 326 million light-years from Earth.
The journey begins and ends on a new mid- and near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, and includes a brief fade to a visible light image from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The pair are separated by only 100,000 light-years — relatively close in astronomical terms. Our Milky Way galaxy and nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are separated by about 2.5 million light-years. This tour spotlights what’s happened since they’ve interacted, including a blue haze that joins them.
Also look for contrasting views of the spiral galaxy at top right, which “disappears” in Webb’s mid-infrared view.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)A Tour of the Serpens NebulaJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-06-27 | This video tours the Serpens Nebula, a star-forming region that lies 1,300 light-years away from Earth.
A new image of Serpens from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows an intriguing group of aligned protostellar outflows within one region of the nebula. Protostellar outflows are formed when jets of gas spewing from newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds.
This region is also home to several captivating features—the flapping shadow of a planet-forming disk, nicknamed the “Bat Shadow,” areas of varying density that appear as crevices, and a special binary protostar.
Video: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI) Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Science: Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI)Pillars of Creation Star in New Visualization from NASA’s Hubble and Webb TelescopesJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-06-27 | Made famous in 1995 by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Pillars of Creation in the heart of the Eagle Nebula have captured imaginations worldwide with their arresting, ethereal beauty.
Now, NASA has released a new 3D visualization of these towering celestial structures using data from NASA's Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. This is the most comprehensive and detailed multiwavelength movie yet of this star-birthing region.
The movie takes visitors into the three-dimensional structures of the pillars. Rather than an artistic interpretation, the video is based on observational data from a science paper led by Anna McLeod, an associate professor at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. McLeod also served as a scientific advisor on the movie project.
The 3D structures are approximations for how the pillars are lined up in space like a row of trees, based on observational data. The goal is to give viewers an experiential view, so that they can better interpret the otherwise flat, two-dimensional images from telescopes.
Credit: Greg Bacon (STSci): Producer Frank Summers (STSci): Director Anna McLeod(Durham): Science Advisor
Visualization: Greg Bacon, Ralf Crawford, Joseph DePasquale, Leah Hustak, Danielle Kirshenblat, Christian Nieves, Joseph Olmsted, Alyssa Pagan, Frank Summers(STSci), Robert Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)
Music Credit: "Adrift” by Joseph DePasquale (STSci)
While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit: nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.htmlOther Worlds, Episode 2: EuropaJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-05-21 | On Earth, where there is liquid water, there is life. Jupiter’s moon Europa has a liquid water ocean underneath its icy crust. Go behind the scenes with scientists as they explore Europa with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and prepare for the launch of the Europa Clipper mission.
Director: James Tralie Producers: James Tralie, Elizabeth Landau, Lonnie Shekhtman Writers: Elizabeth Landau, James Tralie Editor: James Tralie On Camera Talent: Heidi Hammel, Geronimo Villanueva, Lynnae Quick, Bob Pappalardo, Serina Diniega, John Mather, Jonathan Lunine, Samantha Trumbo Animation: Walt Feimer, Michael Lentz, Jonathan North, Adriana Manrique Gutierrez, Krystofer Kim, Lisa Poje Videographers: Rob Andreoli, John Philyaw, Mike McClare, Michael Menzel, Jr., Sophia Roberts, Bertrand Odom-Reed, Anthony Penta NASA+ Executive Producer: Rebecca Sirmons
Special thanks to: Leslie Mullen, Christopher Nunley, Stephen Epstein, Blaine Baggett, Eric De Jong (in memoriam), NASA/JPL-Caltech
Music Credits: · “Horsepower” - Emmanuel Stephane Rousseau · “Dream On” - Christopher Edmund Elmsie and Stuart Roslyn · “Follow the Drinking Gourd” - Kavin Hoo · “The Cold Truth” - Alex Parsons · “Dreadful Solitude” - Martin Laschober and Richard M. Lauw · “What is Real” - Derek Whitacre · “Master of Illusion” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Disturbed Dreams” - Beth Perry and Chris Doney · “Threat from Within” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Losing Orientation” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Beautiful Code” - Daniel Marantz and Sam Clunie · “A Distant Life” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Fractured Past” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Second Guessing” - Derek Whitacre · “Cold Reflection” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Within the Shadows” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “The Big Blue” - Barnaby Allan Taylor and Ben Salisbury · “Bitter Frosts” - Paul Leonard Morgan · “Never Give Up Hope” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Untouched Landscape” - Benji Paul Merrison and Will Slater · “Majestic Power” - Benji Paul Merrison and Will Slater · “Pathfiinder” - Alan Myson · “Reaching from Beyond” - Thomas Alexander Farnon · “Calm Seas” - Barnaby Allan Taylor and Ben Salisbury · “Always Forward” - Ram Khat · “The World Before Us” - Sergey Azbel · “Seen in the Stars” - Oliver Philippe Price and Stuart Roslyn · “Embers” - Alan Myson · “Growing in Strength” - Benji Paul Merrison and Will Slater · “Defy Gravity” - Markus GleissnerWebb Captures New Views Of The Horsehead NebulaJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-05-14 | Astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to survey the Horsehead Nebula in incredible detail.
The Horsehead Nebula is an iconic area in the constellation Orion where massive stars are being born.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Liz Landau: Script Isabelle Yan: Producer
Image Credits: NASA/Webb, CSA, ESA, ESA/Euclid, Euclid Consortium, ESO, Digitized Sky Survey 2, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. De Martin, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), K. Misselt (University of Arizona) and A. Abergel (IAS/University Paris-Saclay, CNRS)
Image of Williamina Fleming as part of the Public Domain
Image of Photographic Plate courtesy of Harvard College Observatory, Astronomical Photographic Glass Plate Collection
Music Credit: "Ambition" by Baxter Jervis [ASCAP] via Atmosphere Music Ltd. [PRS], and Universal Production Music.
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14590. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14590. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.
Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this galaxy is relatively compact in size but hosts a frenzy of star formation activity. For comparison, M82 is sprouting new stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy.
Using Webb to Inspect the activity in galaxies like these can deepen astronomers’ understanding of the early universe by getting a closer look at the physical conditions that foster the formation of new stars.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Isabelle Yan: Producer Dr. Stefanie N Milam: Voiceover Thaddeus Cesari: Script Abigail Major, STScI: Script
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Music Credit: "A Simpler Time" by Oskari Nurminen [ASCAP] via Universal Publishing Prod. Music Nordic [STIM], and Universal Production Music.
Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14561. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14561. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Webb Telescope YouTube channel: youtube.com/@NASAWebbTelescope/featuredOther Worlds, Episode 1: PlanetsJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-03-13 | The planets of our solar system are full of mysteries. Meet a few of the scientists who are using the James Webb Space Telescope to look at our solar system and beyond.
Director: James Tralie Producers: Lonnie Shekhtman, James Tralie, Elizabeth Landau Writers: Lonnie Shekhtman, James Tralie, Elizabeth Landau Editor: James Tralie On-camera Talent : Heidi Hammel, Stefanie Milam, Naomi Rowe-Gurney, Geronimo Villanueva, John Mather, Conor Nixon, Leigh Fletcher Animation: Walt Feimer, Michael Lentz, Jonathan North, Adriana Manrique Gutierrez, Krystofer Kim Videographers: Rob Andreoli, John Philyaw, Mike McClare, Michael Menzel, Jr., Sophia Roberts, Liz LandauWebb Captures New Views Of Star-Forming RegionJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-03-09 | NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken two new images of the star-forming region NGC 604, located in the Triangulum galaxy, 2.7 million light-years away from Earth.
Sheltered among these dusty envelopes of gas are more than 200 of the hottest, most massive kinds of stars, all in the early stages of their lives. The largest of these stars can have more than 100 times the mass of our own Sun.
How stars are born and how they interact with their environments are two big questions in astronomy today that are actively being studied with the Webb telescope. In this new image, Webb is showing us parts of the story of star formation that we could never see before, revealing more about the universe and our place in it.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Dr. Jane Rigby: Voiceover Hannah Braun, STScI: Script
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Music Credit: "Into Orbit" by Laurent Dury [SACEM] via Koka Media [SACEM], Universal Production Music France [SACEM], and Universal Production Music.
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14544. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14544. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.
Credit: NASAThe Webb Telescope SunshieldJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2024-02-14 | The Webb Telescope's sunshield is key to enabling Webb's science. This feature explains how the sunshield works, and how this tennis court-sized piece of hardware fits into a rocket (hint: it's deployed after launch!).
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Animators Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) Jonathan North (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) Michael Lentz (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
Writers Michael McClare (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) Michael Starobin (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
Host Sophia Roberts (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.) [Lead]
Producers Michael McClare (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead] Michael Starobin (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead] Sophia Roberts (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
Videographer Michael McClare (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]Take a Tour of Cassiopeia AJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-12-11 | This video tours Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A). NIRCam’s high resolution detects tiny knots of gas leftover from the star’s explosion, as well as light echoes scattered across the field of view.
Science: Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Ilse De Looze (UGent), Tea Temim (Princeton University)Tour the Crab NebulaJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-10-30 | This video tours the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant that lies 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Despite this distance from Earth, the Crab Nebula is a relatively close example of what remains after the explosive death of a massive star.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures in unprecedented detail the various components that comprise the Crab, including the expanding cloud of hot gas, cavernous filaments of dust, and synchrotron emission. The synchrotron emission is the result of the nebula’s pulsar: a rapidly rotating neutron star that is located in the center.
The wind produced by the pulsar shapes the Crab Nebula’s form and pushes fast-moving particles along the magnetic field, forming thin ribbons that flow throughout the nebula’s interior. Toward the nebula’s edges are cavernous filaments of dust and hot gas—now-fractured material that was and continues to be ejected at high speeds. Zooming out reveals the nebula’s unique structure, including areas where the synchrotron emission seems to be pinched.
Webb’s sensitivity, along with the rich data collected by other telescopes, is helping astronomers study this complex and changing scene. This information will lead to an improved understanding of the Crab Nebula’s mysterious origins as well as broaden knowledge about the lives and deaths of stars.
Credits:
Science: Tea Temim (Princeton University) Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Video: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)Composing Webb Telescope ImagesJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-08-07 | Want to know how the James Webb Space Telescope’s observations are transformed from black-and-white data into full-color images? Follow along as Joe DePasquale and Alyssa Pagan, science visuals developers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, explain how they process the telescope’s images from start to finish.
Joe shares what happens before the data are downloaded (hint: a lot!) and why its raw images appear almost black. He goes on to explain how stretching and compression are techniques they use to reveal the bulk of what Webb captured.
Alyssa shares how they assign color and compose Webb’s final images to emphasize scientifically valuable details. She also explains how infrared light is different than visible light, and how she and Joe compose the final full-color images.
Music: APM, Premium BeatTour of El Gordo Galaxy ClusterJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-08-02 | In July 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope observed El Gordo, a galaxy cluster that existed 6.2 billion years after the big bang. It was selected as the most massive galaxy cluster known at that time in cosmic history. The resulting image reveals a variety of gravitationally lensed galaxies, including striking objects nicknamed the Fishhook and the Thin One. Come with us on a video tour of this new infrared image from Webb.
Credits
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA
Science: Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Brenda Frye (University of Arizona), Patrick Kamieneski (ASU), Tim Carleton (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU)
Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Jordan C. J. D'Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Aaron Robotham (UWA), Rogier Windhorst (ASU)
Video: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)Rho Ophiuchi Video TourJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-07-20 | This video tours a portion of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. The image was taken to celebrate the first anniversary of the start of science operations for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen, shown in red. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disk, the makings of future planetary systems. Once our entire solar system, encompassing the entire history of life as we know it, would have appeared something like this if seen from a distance.
At bottom, a glowing cave of dust dominates the image. It was carved out by the star S1, at the center of the cavity – the only star in the image that is significantly more massive than our Sun.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, Greg Bacon (STScI)
Audio description and transcript available here: webbtelescope.org/contents/media/videos/2023/128/01H4YM4EH20F6ZX6M7EWDE9RSNDesigning WebbJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-07-12 | The James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful space telescope ever made – and the most complex one yet designed. Did you know that the telescope’s history stretches back before the Hubble Space Telescope was launched? This video explores the various early concept designs for Webb, including the criteria and the players. Learn more about Webb’s final design, how it evolved, and how the completed telescope was tested and prepared for its historic launch.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Writer: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Video editor: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Interviewer: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Interviewees: Eric Smith (NASA/HQ) John Mather (NASA/HQ) Keith Parrish (NASA/HQ)
Animators: Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle) Leah Hustak (STSCI) Michael Lentz (KBRwyle) Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) Walt Feimer (KBRwyle)
Cinematographers: John Caldwell (AIMM) Rob Andreoli (AIMM)
Narrator: Sophia Roberts (AIMM)
Videographers: Arianespace/ESA/CNES Michael McClare (KBRwyle) Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) Northrop Grumman Sean Goebel Sophia Roberts (AIMM) W.M. Keck Observatory
Technical support: Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET)
Camera Operators: John Caldwell (AIMM) Rob Andreoli (AIMM)Unfolding the Universe with WebbJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-07-12 | NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is unfolding the universe, and revealing sights humanity has never seen before. In this video, astronomers describe working with the telescope and how the images and data are collected. From first images to routine operations: experts at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD explain how the images are processed, and turned from raw data to the spectacular full-color images seen on the internet.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Writer: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Interviewer: (Lead) Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) Sophia Roberts (AIMM) Michael McClare (KBRwyle)
Interviewee: (Lead) Karl Gordon (STScI) Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Video editor: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Animators: Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle) European Space Agency Michael Lentz (KBRwyle) Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) Walt Feimer (KBRwyle)
Cinematographers: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) John D. Philyaw (AIMM)
Narrator: Sophia Roberts (AIMM)
Videographers:
Arianespace/ESA/CNES Michael McClare (KBRwyle) Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) Sophia Roberts (AIMM)
Technical support: Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET)
Camera Operators: (Lead) John D. Philyaw (AIMM) Michael McClare (KBRwyle)James Webb Space Telescope Mission Overview (2023)James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-07-12 | A brief overview of the James Webb Space Telescope mission from its construction, launch, and complex unfolding, to the incredible science it achieves.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer: Michael McClare (KBRwyle)
Writer: Michael McClare (KBRwyle)
Video editor: Michael P. Menzel (AIMM)
Animators: Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle) Michael Lentz (KBRwyle) Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) Walt Feimer (KBRwyle)
Videographers: Arianespace/ESA/CNES Michael McClare (KBRwyle) Michael P. Menzel (AIMM) Sophia Roberts (AIMM) Times Square Alliance
Technical support: Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET)CEERS: Flight to Maisies GalaxyJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-07-10 | This 3D visualization portrays about 5,000 galaxies within a small portion of the CEERS (Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science) Survey, which gathered data from a region known as the Extended Groth Strip. As the camera flies away from our viewpoint, each second amounts to traveling 200 million light-years into the data set, and seeing 200 million years further into the past. The appearances of the galaxies change, reflecting the fact that more distant objects are seen at earlier times in the universe, when galaxies were less developed. The video ends at Maisie’s Galaxy, which formed only 390 million years after the big bang, or about 13.4 billion years ago.
Music: Spring Morning, Maarten Schellekens CC BY-NC 4.0
Credits:
Visualization: Frank Summers (STScI), Greg Bacon (STScI), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI), Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Science: Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (RIT), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin)Take a Tour of Pandoras ClusterJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-02-15 | This video tours Pandora’s Cluster (Abell 2744), a region where multiple clusters of galaxies are in the process of merging to form a megacluster. Astronomers estimate 50,000 sources of near-infrared light are represented in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
The concentration of mass in Pandora’s Cluster is so great that the fabric of spacetime is warped by gravity, creating an effect that makes the region of special interest to astronomers: a natural, super-magnifying glass called a “gravitational lens” that they can use to see very distant sources of light beyond the cluster that would otherwise be undetectable, even to Webb. These lensed sources, which are particularly prominent in the lower right area, appear red in the image, and often as elongated arcs distorted by the gravitational lens.
The video also highlights a mysterious object that appears to be no more than a red dot. One theory is that this source of infrared light is a glowing disk of gas surrounding a supermassive black hole in the early universe.
VIDEO: STScI, Danielle Kirshenblat MUSIC: PremiumBeat Music, Klaus Hergersheimer SCIENCE: Ivo Labbe (Swinburne), Rachel Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh) IMAGE PROCESSING: STScI, Alyssa PaganVideo Tour of NGC 346James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2023-01-12 | This video tours areas of NGC 346, one of the most dynamic star-forming regions in nearby galaxies. NGC 346, a star cluster that lies within a nebula, is located 210,000 light years away. It resides within the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy close to our Milky Way.
New findings from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveal the presence of a much more intricate network of gas and dust structures than previously discovered in the area. Within a plume of gas is cold molecular hydrogen, which provides a perfect environment for young stars to form, some of which can be seen in the image. These young stars generate energy that heats the gas, energizing and splitting the molecular hydrogen. This effectively carves rough ridges into the gas.
Another area at upper right appears to show the head of a dragon, spitting out balls of hot gas. Its “eye” and the balls of gas are areas of active star formation, which will continue to change the environment around it.
The wisps seen in the image at upper right are more evidence of that environmental change. Winds from nearby stars are blowing away material that surrounds still-forming stars, leaving these small structures behind.
Around the arc, we see curly ribbons of glowing gas that outline the cold molecular gas of the region. These many pillars of creation show how pervasive the stellar erosion is in the region.
Eventually, over millions of years, the mixture of energized and dense hydrogen will give way to thousands of stars and far more of these filamentary structures.
Credits
VIDEO: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI) MUSIC: High Street Music SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, CSA, Olivia C. Jones (UK ATC), Guido De Marchi (ESTEC), Margaret Meixner (USRA) IMAGE PROCESSING: Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Nolan Habel (USRA), Laura Lenkić (USRA), Laurie E. U. Chu (NASA Ames)Happy Birthday Webb!James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-12-19 | What a year it has been for Webb! It feels like just yesterday we were getting ready to launch, and now Webb has hit the ground running in its mission to #UnfoldTheUniverse. Break out your box of tissues and relive the magic with us. Happy Birthday, Webb!
Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Editor Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Videographer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Videographer Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Videographer Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Lead Animator Robert Navias (NASA): Launch CommentatorTour the Webb Telescope’s Pillars of CreationJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-10-19 | This video tours areas of Webb’s near-infrared light view of the Pillars of Creation. This area is brimming with gas and dust – which are essential ingredients for star formation. Glowing, bright red wavy lines appear at the edges of some pillars, revealing where stars are ejecting material as they form. The bright red orbs are newly formed stars that have burst into view.
Distant galaxies typically make appearances in Webb’s images, but not this one. A translucent layer of gas and dust is drawn like a curtain, allowing the stars to take centerstage. Webb’s near-infrared image will help researchers update their models of star formation. Over time, we’ll learn how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.
Read more about Webb's near-infrared image of the Pillars of Creation: go.nasa.gov/3EPPiXW
Credits: Video: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI) Music: Soundstripe Productions Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Cosmic Cliffs: StarsJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. A near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, has been mapped to a symphony of sounds to create a data sonification. This video plays only the notes that represent stars in the image. All stars are represented by a combination of pitches and processed piano notes, but the brightest stars with longer diffraction spikes also carry crashes and clangs from cymbals.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the image from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
Brighter light in the image is louder. The vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. For example, bright light near the top of the image sounds loud and high, but bright light near the bottom is loud and lower pitched.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting – it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Southern Ring NebulaJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. In this video, each of Webb's two views of the Southern Ring Nebula — in near-infrared light (at left) and mid-infrared light (at right) — has been adapted to sound.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the images from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
Two stars orbit one another at the center of this planetary nebula. The smaller, fainter red star in the mid-infrared image at right is at the end of its lifetime. It has puffed off layers of gas and dust for thousands of years. Its companion, the brighter, larger star in both images, has stirred up those ejections. Now, listeners can hear the stars and surrounding shells of material in each image clearly.
The colors in the images were mapped to pitches of sound, with frequencies of light converted directly to frequencies of sound. Near-infrared light is represented by a higher range of frequencies at the beginning of the track. Mid-way through, the notes change, becoming lower overall to reflect that mid-infrared includes longer wavelengths of light.
Listen carefully at 15 seconds and 44 seconds. These notes align with the centers of the near- and mid-infrared images, where the stars at the center of the “action” appear. In the near-infrared image that begins the track, only one star is heard clearly, with a louder clang. In the second half of the track, listeners will hear a low note just before a higher note, which denotes that two stars were detected in mid-infrared light. The lower note represents the redder star that created this nebula, and the second is the star that appears brighter and larger.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music that represents near- and mid-infrared light, specifically to hear their contrasts. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an abstract painting – it converts two of Webb’s images into a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Listen to Webb's near-infrared and mid-infrared images of the Southern Ring Nebula individually: 1. Near-infrared: youtu.be/k7zNJsf3z7w 2. Mid-infrared: youtu.be/ui0Rpvi1axs
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Cosmic Cliffs: MountainsJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. A near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, has been mapped to a symphony of sounds to create a data sonification.
This video only includes sounds from the bottom half of the image, which resembles a mountain range in ruddy shades of orange and red. This half of the image has a meandering melodic line to follow the shape of that “mountain range” as it rises and falls in the image, through the center of the frame, from left to right. The jagged line between denser and thinner areas of gas and dust is the arc of the sonification’s melody. Dimmer, dust-obscured areas that appear lower in the image are represented by lower frequencies and clearer, undistorted notes. All stars are represented by a combination of pitches and processed piano notes, but the brightest stars with longer diffraction spikes also carry crashes and clangs from cymbals.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the image from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
Brighter light in the image is louder. The vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. For example, bright light near the top of the image sounds loud and high, but bright light near the bottom is loud and lower pitched.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting – it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Cosmic Cliffs: SkyJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. A near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, has been mapped to a symphony of sounds to create a data sonification. This video includes sounds from just the top half of the image, which resembles a dark blue night sky. The gas and dust that are represented in blue hues have been translated to windy, drone-like sounds. All stars are represented by a combination of pitches and processed piano notes, but the brightest stars with longer diffraction spikes also carry crashes and clangs from cymbals.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the image from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
Brighter light in the image is louder. The vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. For example, bright light near the top of the image sounds loud and high, but bright light near the bottom is loud and lower pitched.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting – it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina NebulaJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. This data sonification maps a near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, to a symphony of sounds. Musicians assigned unique notes to the semi-transparent, gauzy regions and very dense areas of gas and dust in the nebula, culminating in a buzzing soundscape.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the image from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
The soundtrack is vibrant and full, representing the detail in this gigantic, gaseous cavity that has the appearance of a mountain range. The Carina Nebula is a large cloud of gas and dust where stars are forming or have already formed.
The gas and dust in the top half of the image are represented in blue hues and windy, drone-like sounds. The bottom half of the image, represented in ruddy shades of orange and red, has a clearer, more melodic composition.
Brighter light in the image is louder. The vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. For example, bright light near the top of the image sounds loud and high, but bright light near the middle is loud and lower pitched. Dimmer, dust-obscured areas that appear lower in the image are represented by lower frequencies and clearer, undistorted notes.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting – it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Southern Ring Nebula: Near-InfraredJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. NASA’s Webb Telescope uncovered two views of the Southern Ring Nebula, one in near-infrared light and one in mid-infrared light. The colors in the images were mapped to pitches of sound — frequencies of light converted directly to frequencies of sound — in a data sonification.
This video only includes sounds from the near-infrared view. Near-infrared light is represented here by a higher range of frequencies than mid-infrared light. There are two stars in the center of this planetary nebula. In the near-infrared, only one star is heard clearly, with a louder clang.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the images from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
The sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music that represents near- and mid-infrared light, specifically to hear their contrasts. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an abstract painting – it converts two of Webb’s images into a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Southern Ring Nebula: Mid-InfraredJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. NASA’s Webb Telescope uncovered two views of the Southern Ring Nebula, one in near-infrared light and one in mid-infrared light. The colors in the images were mapped to pitches of sound — frequencies of light converted directly to frequencies of sound — in a data sonification.
This video only includes sounds from the mid-infrared view. Mid-infrared light is represented by lower notes overall to reflect that mid-infrared includes longer wavelengths of light. There are two stars in the center of this planetary nebula. Listeners will hear a low note just before a higher note, which denotes that two stars were detected in mid-infrared light. The lower note represents the redder star that created this nebula, and the second is the star that appears brighter and larger.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the images from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
The sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music that represents near- and mid-infrared light, specifically to hear their contrasts. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an abstract painting – it converts two of Webb’s images into a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Also listen to these versions of the Southern Ring Nebula sonification: 1. Near-infrared Image: youtu.be/k7zNJsf3z7w 2. Side-by-Side Image: youtu.be/La9DB-bcy5Y
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Exoplanet WASP-96 bJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-31 | Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. Webb observed the atmospheric characteristics of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b — which contains clear signatures of water — and the resulting transmission spectrum’s individual data points were translated into sound.
Data sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the spectrum from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch the progression as the vertical line moves across the graph, ringing out a musical note for each data point. From bottom to top, the y-axis ranges from less to more light blocked. The x-axis represents wavelength of light, and ranges from 0.6 microns on the left to 2.8 microns on the right. The pitches of each data point correspond to the frequencies of light each point represents. Longer wavelengths of light have lower frequencies and are heard as lower pitches. The volume also indicates the amount of light detected in each data point.
The four water signatures are represented by the sound of water droplets falling. These sounds simplify the data – water is detected as a signature that has multiple data points. The sounds align only to the highest points in the data.
Credits: Image: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).#UnfoldTheUniverse With NASAs James Webb Space Telescope, Part 5James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-12 | Ahead of our launch, we asked you to show us what you believe the James Webb Space Telescope will reveal through art. Here are just some of submissions we received for our #UnfoldTheUniverse art challenge! Special thanks to all of our participants.
Thanks to intern Kate Jolly for this video!
Artists featured in this video: Carlos Moreno Tent Claire Lamman Akerra Nicholson Shriya Katta Claire Lamman Amber Owen and The Montessori Schoolhouse in Springfield, IL students. Amy Rae Hill Stefan Vogels Stefan Vogels (Studio DIES) Erin Barry-Dutro Marc Gottlieb Paolo Bettini Roly Rolerson Pawani Rajapaksha S . Shanmathi Reyansh Sunwar Juee Naik NASA GSFC/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez Navneet Nair Carlos Galeano Cat Kati Falcon Anusha Ivaturi Violetta Moonlight Aahan Singh Daniela Fino Priyanka Singh Molly Chakraborty
Poem by Phooi Jing Poem read by Kate Jolly
Trillions of stars beaming far, The universe breathes pristine air , Nebulae shields the heaven's breath, To thousands light years away where secrets stay. The Big Bang nurtures the first gallon of fluid, Turns it into series of beauty, The goddess of beauty we live in, Maps of dark matter and energy awaiting to be seen. Old man Hubble has the the glory, Charted on the milestone gleaming, The successor Webb has now ready, To be the heir of this obligated journey. Stars, planets, humans, ants, We all are made of the same universe grains, The symbol of evolution ---- James Webb, We ride to explore another blue light, In the name of revolution that births a fruit bright, We venture into stardust on another flight.
Music Credits: Universal Production Music. "Scaling Mountains," Christopher Lewis [ PRS ] and Daniel Marantz [ PRS ], Sound Pocket Music [ PRS ]
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Kate Jolly, Lead Producer and Editor#UnfoldTheUniverse With NASAs James Webb Space Telescope, Part 4James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-08-12 | We asked you to show us what you believe the James Webb Space Telescope will reveal through art. Here are just some of submissions we received for our #UnfoldTheUniverse art challenge! Special thanks to all of our participants.
Thanks to intern Taylor Hart for this video!
Artists featured in this video: (in order of appearance):
Pat Durning Sanyukta Nishikant Nibandhe Mark Shultes Shelina Swastika Kumar Căluz Luca Marc Gottlieb Dolores Watson Daniela Fino Juee Naik Janset Aydogdu Lanchen Mihalic Galina Ivanova Alice Hanslay Ella Zhou Greta Slocum Michael Duncan Sreshta Velamuri Charity Woodrum Lizzeth Ruiz Arroyo Alice Hanslay Jedidiah Dore Erfan Habibpour Pierre Vuaillet Mahmood Nabipoor Katherine Bjelke David Law and Nora Luetzgendorf Ava Strancke Anri Demchenko Marina Muscan
Poem by Pat Durning Poem read by Taylor Hart
Eternal Eye Cold. Silent. Alone in the Dark sits Our Hope of Discovery Our Fear of not Knowing * Calculated, slow Assembly; one piece resting upon another By the group that builds: …while paying the mortgage …taking the kid to school …caring for a dying parent …living, Loving One moment upon the next, dusk till dawn Work for an eternal glimpse motoring on * Test and Twist Push and Pull for the unknown journey ahead While safe in the gravity of our planets’ Earthen beds * A collective of insights: …minds for science …builders …movers …testers …those that oversee Grouped together for a moment in time to Test and Twist, Push and Pull * Cold Silence Traveling in the dark Further away gliding, until commanded to stop * Galaxies seen! Unknowing becomes clear Cold, silent Space Our Eternal Eye rests Here
Music Credits: Universal Production Music. "Luminous," Magnum Opus [ ASCAP ], Chalk Music [ PRS ]
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Taylor Hart, Lead Producer and EditorNASAs James Webb Space Telescope First Images Expert PanelJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-07-14 | Welcome to this special expert panel featuring James Webb Space Telescope scientists as they explain and breakdown the first five images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Featured speakers:
- Dr. Knicole Colón – Astrophysicist, Deputy Project Scientist for Exoplanet Science, Webb Space Telescope
- Dr. David Law – Associate Astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute
- Dr. Stefanie Milam – Planetary Scientist and Deputy Project Scientist for Planetary Science, Webb Space Telescope
- Dr. Klaus Pontoppidan – Associate Astronomer and JWST Project Scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute
Moderated by Dr. Quyen Hart – Senior Outreach Scientist and Webb Science Communications Lead, Space Telescope Science Institute
Sign Language Interpreter: Nicolette VelasquezPeter Cullen and the Webb Telescope: One Transformer meets anotherJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-07-08 | One “Transformer” meets another!
Enjoy this short trailer for our upcoming broadcast of Webb’s first full-color images and data on July 12! Peter Cullen, voice of Optimus Prime from TRANSFORMERS, says hello to the James Webb Space Telescope — which unfolded like a “Transformer” in space!
Special thanks to Peter Cullen!
Credit: NASA Goddard Lead Producer: Michael McClare
Listen to Carl Sagan narrate the trailer for our upcoming broadcast of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images and data. Watch each of the images get revealed one by one on the broadcast, starting at 10:30 am ET (14:30 UTC) on July 12, 2022. Catch the show on any of NASA’s streaming platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch and DailyMotion.
Images will also be made available on all of our social media platforms, including @ nasawebb on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook. You can also check out nasa.gov/webbfirstimages!
Produced by Lindeman & Associates Voice of Carl Sagan courtesy of Druyan-Sagan Associates, Inc., used with permission Imagery courtesy of NASA and ESA, with Druyan-Sagan Associates, Inc., used with permission
Music Credit / License: "Starfall" Really Slow Motion LLCWebb: Revealing the First GalaxiesJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-06-22 | Take a trip through time and space to the early universe with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. How will Webb reveal the never-before-seen first galaxies? What are astronomers looking for? Discover the answers to these questions and more with this video.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)
Designers: Greg Bacon, Leah Hustak, Joe Olmsted, Dani Player Scientists: Quyen Hart, Dan Coe Writer: Leah Ramsay Educator: Holly Ryer
All images, illustrations and videos courtesy of NASA and STScI except: First Galaxies Formation Animation: Courtesy of The SPHINX collaboration Footage & Music: Courtesy of Pond 5, Premium Beat, Soundstripe Narration: Courtesy of Bunny Studio#UnfoldTheUniverse With NASAs James Webb Space Telescope, Part 3James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-06-06 | Ahead of our launch, we asked you to show us what you believe the James Webb Space Telescope will reveal through art. Here are just some of submissions we received for our #UnfoldTheUniverse art challenge! Special thanks to all of our participants.
We are continuing to extend our challenge! With our first images coming July 12, 2022, we want to see how they inspired you! Keep sending in your art!
Vincent Garcia AJ Wagner Alice Hanslay Paolo Bettini S Shanmathi Kati Falcon Austin Voges Anusha Ivaturi Barbara Fee Sheehan Cat (YouTube: Fish Cat) Ashley Zelenskie Aahan Singh Thy Quỳnh Harshita Mathur Jack LeBlanc Jon Young Michael Duncan CJ Zahara Daniela Fino Alissa Ahmed Vicki Chase, Canterbury Soapworks Lizzeth Ruiz Arroyo Mary McIntyre Aviral Varma Amber Owen, Montessori Schoolhouse Edwin Vasquez Melanie Joy Mezzancello Eleanor Pomerantz Ayaana Vipin Kunimal Mark Shultes Grayson Shaw Nhi Tran Lissa Buzzelli Violetta Moonlight Erin Barry-Dutro Ahmed Jaidane Noor Alain Mansour Luke Alaa Hannah Grace F. Ernia Daniel Schumacher Zeinab Zare Ben Canfield André Mejia Sanyukta Nishikant Nibandhe Damien Kidlat Cabanado Rebecca Sherer Naalaa Dolores Watson Hanna Mernar Diego and Evan Elias
Music Credits: Universal Production Music. "Magic Mirror" by Andy Blythe, Marten Joustra.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Miranda Chabot, Lead Producer and EditorWebb Science Instruments OverviewJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-05-23 | An overview of the instruments onboard the Webb Telescope: the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), and the Fine Guidance Sensor/Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph. Learn how each instrument will help Webb unfold the universe.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Michael Starobin (KBRwyle): Producer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Producer Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Animator Chris Meaney (KBRwyle): Animator Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Editor Rich Melnick (KBRwyle): Editor Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Host Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Narrator
Download this video at: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14136The Webb Telescope Completes Alignment PhaseJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-04-28 | It is official, alignment of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now complete. The alignment of the telescope across all of Webb’s instruments can be seen in a series of images that captures the observatory’s full field of view.
Featured in this video are engineering images demonstrating the sharp focus of each instrument. For this test, Webb pointed at part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, providing a dense field of hundreds of thousands of stars across all the observatory’s sensors. The sizes and positions of the images shown depict the relative arrangement of each of Webb’s instruments in the telescope’s focal plane, each pointing at a slightly offset part of the sky relative to one another. Webb’s three imaging instruments are NIRCam (images shown here at a wavelength of 2 microns), NIRISS (image shown here at 1.5 microns), and MIRI (shown at 7.7 microns, a longer wavelength revealing emission from interstellar clouds as well as starlight). NIRSpec is a spectrograph rather than imager but can take images, such as the 1.1 micron image shown here, for calibrations and target acquisition. The dark regions visible in parts of the NIRSpec data are due to structures of its microshutter array, which has several hundred thousand controllable shutters that can be opened or shut to select which light is sent into the spectrograph. Lastly, Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor tracks guide stars to point the observatory accurately and precisely; its two sensors are not generally used for scientific imaging but can take calibration images such as those shown here. This image data is used not just to assess image sharpness but also to precisely measure and calibrate subtle image distortions and alignments between the instrument sensors as part of Webb’s overall instrument calibration process.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Editor Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Videographer Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Videographer Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Animator Please give credit for this item to: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Music Credit: Cyclic Marimba by Eric Chevalier - Koka Media
Short URL to share this page: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14150James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Alignment Update - March 16, 2022James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-03-21 | James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Alignment Update briefing at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland on March 16, 2022.
Guests: -Karen Fox, Host; -Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters; -Lee Feinberg, Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, NASA Goddard; -Erin Wolf, Webb Program Manager, Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado; -Marshall Perrin, Webb Deputy Telescope Scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; -Jane Rigby, Webb Operations Project Scientist, NASA Goddard.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Secondary Creator Credit: Michael Starobin Location: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD Photographer: Mike McClareNASA’s Webb Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working SuccessfullyJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-03-16 | Following the completion of critical mirror alignment steps, the James Webb Space Telescope team has great confidence that the observatory’s optical performance will meet or exceed the science goals it was built to achieve.
On March 11, the Webb team completed the stage of alignment known as “fine phasing” – and at this key stage in the commissioning of Webb’s Optical Telescope Element, every optical parameter that has been checked and tested is performing at, or above, expectations. The team found no critical issues and no measurable contamination or blockages to Webb’s optical path. The observatory is able to successfully gather light from distant objects and deliver it to its instruments without issue.
Although there are months to go before Webb ultimately delivers its new view of the cosmos, achieving this milestone means the team is confident that Webb’s first-of-its-kind optical system is working as well as possible.
Music Credit: Emerging Discovery Instrumental by Carter / Universal Production Music
Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Animator Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Video Editor Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): VideographerPhotons Received: Webb Sees Its First Star – 18 TimesJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-02-11 | The James Webb Space Telescope is nearing completion of the first phase of the months-long process of aligning the observatory’s primary mirror using the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument.
The team's challenge was twofold: confirm that NIRCam was ready to collect light from celestial objects, and then identify starlight from the same star in each of the 18 primary mirror segments. The result is an image mosaic of 18 randomly organized dots of starlight, the product of Webb's unaligned mirror segments all reflecting light from the same star back at Webb's secondary mirror and into NIRCam's detectors.
What looks like a simple image of blurry starlight now becomes the foundation to align and focus the telescope in order for Webb to deliver unprecedented views of the universe this summer. Over the next month or so, the team will gradually adjust the mirror segments until the 18 images become a single star.
Music credit: Universal Production Music -Transitions Instrumental by Cotton Niblett
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Lead Animator Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Writer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Editor Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Motion Graphics
Download this video: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14100The Webb Telescopes OpticsJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-02-04 | The most prominent and beautiful part of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is its gold primary mirror with its smaller, secondary mirror suspended out in front. Learn more about the Webb Telescope's optics system (and how it will be commissioned) in this short social media video.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center
Michael Starobin (KBRwyle): Lead Producer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Producer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Video Editor Rich Melnick (KBRwyle): Video Editor Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Animator Chris Meaney (KBRwyle): Animator Walt Feimer (KBRwyle): Animator Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle): Animator Michael Lentz (KBRwyle): Animator Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support
Download this video at: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14072The James Webb Space Telescope at L2James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-01-31 | After launch, the James Webb Space Telescope traveled to its orbital destination. Webb will perform its science mission while orbiting a location in space, called the second Lagrange point, or L2 for short. L2 is located one million miles from Earth.
As Webb orbits L2, the telescope stays in line with Earth as it travels around the Sun. L2 is a point where the gravitational influences of the Earth and Sun balance the centripetal force of a small object orbiting with them.
The telescope's optics and instruments need to be kept very cold to be able to observe the very faint infrared signals of very distant objects clearly. This location is perfect for Webb's sunshield to block out light and heat from the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb's orbit keeps the spacecraft out of the Earth's shadow making L2 a thermally stable location for the observatory to operate at.
Webb will operate within its field of regard. The "field of regard" refers to the angles the telescope can move while staying in the shadow of the Sun. Each of Webb's instruments has its own field of view. The field of view is the area of sky an instrument can observe. Webb's fine steering mirror is moved so that an object can be observed by the different instruments. This prevents the whole telescope from having to repoint itself to do so.
The Webb Telescope’s commissioning process will be complete approximately six months after launch, at which time Webb start its science mission. Helping to uncover more of the mysteries of our Universe.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Lead Producer Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator Leah Hustak (STScI): Animator Michael Lentz (USRA): Animator Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Lead Video Editor Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Lead Writer
(Republished with small voiceover correction regarding the fine steering mirrors.)Elements of Webb: Elements Seeking Elements, Ep12James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-01-26 | This is the "Elements of Webb" series finale. Webb uses a variety of unique and run-of-the mill elements in its build. It is also designed to detect the elemental makeup of distant objects. Learn how Webb uses spectroscopy to investigate new worlds.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Producer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Writer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Editor Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Editor Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Videographer Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Production Assistant Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Lead Technical Support Duncan Wiles: Videographer Walt Feimer (KBRwyle): Lead Animator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Animator Bailee DesRocher (USRA): Animator Jacquelyn DeMink (USRA): Animator Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle): Animator Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Michael Lentz (KBRwyle): Animator
Download this video: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14014Elements of Webb: Super Black, Ep11James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-01-19 | Black objects absorb heat. But Webb’s radiator, designed to keep the science instruments cold, is black. Why? Find out on this episode of Elements of Webb.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Producer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Writer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Editor Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Editor Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Production Assistant Duncan Wiles: Videographer Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Lead Technical Support Walt Feimer (KBRwyle): Lead Animator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Animator Bailee DesRocher (USRA): Animator Jacquelyn DeMink (USRA): Animator Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle): Animator Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Michael Lentz (KBRwyle): Animator
Download this video: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14013Elements of Webb: Salt, Ep10James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)2022-01-12 | The Webb Telescope is full of precise optical components, some of which include lenses made out of salt. Why? Find out why our infrared telescope requires this unexpected lens in this episode of Elements of Webb.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Producer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Writer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Editor Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Videographer Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Editor Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Videographer Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Production Assistant Duncan Wiles: Videographer Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Walt Feimer (KBRwyle): Lead Animator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Animator Bailee DesRocher (USRA): Animator Jacquelyn DeMink (USRA): Animator Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle): Animator Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Michael Lentz (KBRwyle): Animator