Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

How to watch the release of the first James Webb Space Telescope images

By

This week will see a huge event in the world of astronomy, with the release of the first science images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Launched in December last year, the telescope had to travel to its orbit around the sun, deploy its hardware including a 6.5-meter primary mirror and a tennis court-sized sunshield, then align and calibrate its four instruments. With all that done, scientists are itching to start work with the telescope, and the first results will be shared on Tuesday, July 12.

First Images of the James Webb Space Telescope (Official NASA Broadcast)

The release of the images will be livestreamed by NASA, and we have the details on how to watch below.

Recommended Videos

What to expect from the images

Engineering images of sharply focused stars in the field of view of each instrument demonstrate that the telescope is fully aligned and in focus.
Engineering images of sharply focused stars in the field of view of each instrument demonstrate that the telescope is fully aligned and in focus. NASA/STScI

The images will show space objects in incredible detail, including the deepest image of the universe ever taken. NASA recently announced what the objects being imaged were, including a rare glimpse into the atmosphere of an exoplanet (which includes spectroscopy data), images of two nebulae, images of a galaxy group, and a deep field image.

Related

Webb instruments operate in the infrared, which means they can detect different features from instruments that operate primarily in the visible light wavelength like those on Hubble. Webb is also very powerful, so it can see very distant and very faint objects, allowing astronomers to get the deepest view yet of parts of the universe and to see some of the earliest galaxies in the universe.

How to watch the image release

To watch the reveal of the first images, you can tune into the announcement on NASA TV. You can watch this either by heading to NASA’s YouTube page or by using the video embedded near the top of this page. The broadcast for the release of the images will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET (7:30 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, July 12.

If you just want to see the images, once they are made public those will be available at the first images gallery on NASA’s website, or you’ll be able to find them in high-resolution with more information posted on the Webb Telescope website.

You can also follow along with the release on social media by following the NASA Webb Telescope account or by joining the Facebook virtual release event.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
James Webb image shows two galaxies in the process of colliding
This composite image of Arp 107, created with data from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) and MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument), reveals a wealth of information about the star formation taking place in these two galaxies and how they collided hundreds of million years ago. The near-infrared data, shown in white, show older stars, which shine brightly in both galaxies, as well as the tenuous gas bridge that runs between them. The vibrant background galaxies are also brightly illuminated at these wavelengths.

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows one of the universe's most dramatic events: the colliding of two galaxies. The pair, known as Arp 107, are located located 465 million light-years away and have been pulled into strange shapes by the gravitational forces of the interaction, but this isn't a purely destructive process. The collision is also creating new stars as young stars are born in swirling clouds of dust and gas.

The image above is a composite, bringing together data from Webb's NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) and MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument). These two instruments operate in different parts of the infrared, so they can pick up on different processes. The data collected in the near-infrared range is seen in white, highlighting older stars and the band of gas running between the two galaxies. The mid-infrared data is shown in orange and red, highlighting busy regions of star formation, with bright young stars putting out large amounts of radiation.

Read more
James Webb trains its sights on the Extreme Outer Galaxy
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has observed the very outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy. Known as the Extreme Outer Galaxy, this region is located more than 58 000 light-years from the Galactic centre.

A gorgeous new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a bustling region of star formation at the distant edge of the Milky Way. Called, dramatically enough, the Extreme Outer Galaxy, this region is located 58,000 light-years away from the center of the galaxy, which is more than twice the distance from the center than Earth is.

Scientists were able to use Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) instruments to capture the region in sparkling detail, showing molecular clouds called Digel Clouds 1 and 2 containing clumps of hydrogen, which enables the formation of new stars.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX’s first-ever spacewalk from a Crew Dragon
The Polaris Dawn Crew Dragon spacecraft as it will look in orbit.

[UPDATE: The spacewalk will begin a little later than originally planned, and the live stream will now start at 4:55 a.m. ET.]

Two non-professional astronauts are about to conduct the first-ever spacewalk from a Crew Dragon spacecraft and also the first-ever commercial spacewalk.

Read more