Researchers utilised NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to capture the largest image of the universe yet.

And here it is.

This is the full schematic of the CEERS Epoch 1 image. At the bottom are close-ups of some highlights in the mosaic. NASA/STScI/CEERS/TACC/S. Finkelstein/M. Bagley/Z. Levay

An international group of scientists has released what they claim to be the largest image ever taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Since it started conducting scientific observations in July, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has garnered media attention. The space agency has published the first batch of pH๏τographs taken by the space telescope’s next-generation equipment. 

The telescopes’ instruments have now been employed by an international team of researchers, which consists of 105 scientists from 19 universities in 28 countries, to gather a vast amount of information about the cosmos. The image has now been made public by the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Study (CEERS).

The data was collected using Webb’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). After being translated to images, the data were then sтιтched together to create an amazing mosaic piece. 

The researchers focused on six distinct galaxies out of the countless galaxies visible in the pH๏τos. A blue spiral galaxy, a few elliptical galaxies, a galaxy dubbed Pac-Man because of its resemblance in shape, and incredibly old galaxies that date back to approximately 9 billion years.

One of the furthest galaxies ever discovered by mankind was one of the galaxies that were visible in the pH๏τograph. According to study findings, if the galaxy is proven to be at a redshift larger than 11.8, it would suggest that Webb has witnessed a galaxy as it was only 400 million years after the Big Bang occurred. The galaxy is named Maisie’s galaxy in honor of project chief Steven Finkelstein’s daughter.

Reference(s): CEERES (largest Image)