When was the James Webb Space Telescope launched? Mission explored as NASA reveals 5 stunning images from telescope 

The James Webb Space Telescope shared some exquisite pictures as NASA launched its most powerful telescope into space. The telescope was launched on December 25, 2021 at 7:20 am ET.

The telescope has reached its final orbit around the sun, which is approximately 930,000 miles from Earth's orbit. It captured images of the cosmic cliffs of a stellar nursery and a quintet of galaxies.

Speaking about the images, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said:

“Every image is a new discovery. Each will give humanity a view of the universe that we've never seen before."

NASA launches its most powerful Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope that captured breathtaking images. (Image via NASA)

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NASA revealed 5 stunning images from the James Webb Space Telescope

Launched in 2021 from the Guiana Space Center, the James Webb Space Telescope's mission was to observe some of the faintest objects in the universe. This would be done from a point that is nearly 1 million miles away from Earth. It is worth noting that the Guiana Space Center is also known as Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

The James Webb Space Telescope, also known as Webb, is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Telescope is still active in the space observatory, capturing breathtaking images of the cosmos. It was launched way back in 1990 and has revealed topics like dark energy and exoplanets.

Webb is primarily operated by NASA, which also provides most of its funding. Apart from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are partners as well.

Webb is named after one of NASA's early administrators who oversaw the creation of the Apollo Program. The telescope has also produced images that are said to be the deepest and most detailed infrared view of the universe to date.

When he saw the images, U.S. President Joe Biden said:

"These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things, and remind the American people - especially our children - that there's nothing beyond our capacity. We can see possibilities no-one has ever seen before. We can go places no-one has ever gone before."

Though the James Webb Space Telescope costs around $10 billion, it has been launched with two goals in mind. The first one is to take pictures of the very first stars to shine in the universe more than 13.5 billion years ago. Meanwhile, the second goal is to probe far-off plants to see if they might be habitable.

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How is James Webb Space Telescope able to see back in time?

While this phenomenon blows loads of minds, it is a rather scientific mechanism that, according to NASA, allows the telescope to look back in time.

Basically, the light from the Sun takes about 7-8 minutes to reach us, so we see the star as it was eight minutes ago. So if the sun were to disappear, it would take us eight minutes to notice.

Using this logic, the light from a distant star may take years to reach us as it was seen years ago. As such, the lights from the first stars began their journey billions of years ago and Webb will see the stars as they were at that point in time.

Explaining how it works, Bill Nelson added:

"Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. And that light that you are seeing on one of those little specks has been travelling for over 13 billion years. And by the way, we're going back further, because this is just the first image. They're going back about 13 and a half billion years. And since we know the Universe is 13.8 billion years old, you're going back almost to the beginning."

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NASA also held a webcast on Tuesday to share the mindblowing images that came from the new telescope.