NASA's Hubble vs JWST: With 1st picture out, here's the difference between both telescopes

The universe just expanded for all after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday released the stunning first full-coloured infrared picture that arrived from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and netizens are hooked on the clarity and sharpness. Space observers couldn't hold back from sharing side-by-side comparisons of a previous image snapped by the Hubble Telescope and the significant crystal-clear pictures taken by the JWST, which show off the dense star field infused with hundreds of other galaxies. The high-resolution image of the near-and mid-infrared captured the interstellar gas in remarkable detail, leaving netizens gasping in bewilderment.

'New era of astronomy'

The jaw-dropping image that the JWST captured is described as the most detailed and meticulous infrared view ever seen of the Universe to date. The vividly shows the illuminated galaxies and twinkling light reflected from the galaxies situated billions of light-years away from the Earth ensuring that the view of our universe just expanded. US President Joe Biden was the first to see the picture during a presentation by NASA at the White House and he was left spellbound too. "These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things, and remind the American people - especially - children that there is nothing beyond our capacity," Biden remarked, impressed by the pictures snapped by the successor to Hubble.

The picture shared by NASA is of a cluster of galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere of the constellation of Volans. It is about 4.6 billion light-years in distance from Earth when snapped by Webb's 6.5m-wide golden mirror and super-sensitive infrared instrument. Taking to Twitter, a stargazer shared the same image of the cluster taken by Hubble. "Hubble vs JWST: here's the difference. Welcome to a new era of astronomy," he wrote. And indeed, the images give brand new insight into the protoplanetary system. The emissions are sharper, balanced and crisp.

What's more interesting is the James Webb Space Telescope, which is priced at $10 billion, also manages to detect galaxies that existed mere 600 million years after the Big Bang, making it the deepest cosmic field ever obtained. It is in fact the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance. "I had to make a before and after to really appreciate how good the James Webb Space Telescope really is," another observer wrote on Twitter, sharing a GIF of the mystifying images taken by Hubble and JWST.

Notably, the "deep field" image brimming with stars and galaxies in the foreground was part of a wider image "just" while after the Big Bang (which was about 13.8 billion years ago). "We are going to give humanity a new view of the cosmos. It is a view we have never seen before," said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator. The image shared on Tuesday also showed nebula of stars, and tightly clustered galaxies taken by currently the world's largest telescope which was placed in South America last December.

(Image: @JamesWebb/Twitter)