For space lovers, on July 12, 2022, NASA released images of space from the new telescope they put into our atmosphere. 

It’s called the James Webb Telescope and compared to the old one, the new images give crisper and cleaner images of deep space. Put into space in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was the first to go into deep space to capture the galaxy as we know it. It took about 20 years to make and money that couldn’t be fathomable to engineer it. 

 “Webb’s mission lifetime after launch is designed to be at least 5-1/2 years, and could last longer than 10 years. The lifetime is limited by the amount of fuel used for maintaining the orbit, and by the possibility that Webb’s components will degrade over time in the harsh environment of space,” according to FAQ Lite Webb Telescope/NASA.

According to Cnet.com via Amanda Kooser, the “Hubble mainly sees in optical (visible) and ultraviolet wavelengths, so its ‘eyes’ work differently from Webb.” Currently, the Hubble Space telescope is operational alongside the James Webb in space.

 Now, with the James Webb telescope, as said in both the articles Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope Images Compared: See the Difference – CNET and Comparing the Webb and Hubble Telescopes Side-by-Side Will Leave You Astounded, it works by having a longer mirror to collect more light in space and because of this,

 “…Webb can peer farther back into time than Hubble is capable of doing,” said NASA. 

As for context, the image above provides the comparison of both telescopes and when looking online for other pictures, the Webb telescope’s pictures are indeed brighter and more defined because new modifications were made to peer deeper. 

It’s overall purpose was to “find the first galaxies that formed in the early universe and to see stars forming planetary systems,” said by In Depth | James Webb Space Telescope.

With space telescopes getting better and better, it raises the question of whether we will be able to see far enough until NASA can discover aliens? Overall, the James Webb telescope gives new information and imagery to tell anyone looking that the world is not just us. It opened the doors to look back farther into space and potentially even allow us to see far away galaxies and their own planets and moons. James Webb revolutionized the telescope game and not to mention that without it, we wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of our galaxy.