Here’s how to watch the release of the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope

A major event will take place in the world of astronomy this week with the release of the first scientific images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Launched in December last year, the telescope had to travel into orbit around the Sun, deploy its hardware including a 6.5-metre primary mirror and a tennis court-sized sunshade, and then align and calibrate its four instruments. With all that said, scientists are dying to start work on the telescope, and the first results will be released on Tuesday, July 12.

The release of the images will be live streamed by NASA and we have the details as you can check them out below.

What to expect from the pictures

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

Webb instruments operate in the infrared, which means they can detect different features than instruments that operate primarily in visible light, such as Hubble’s. Webb is also very powerful, allowing it to see very distant and very faint objects, allowing astronomers to see parts of the universe with the deepest vision yet and seeing some of the earliest galaxies in the universe.

Here’s how to view the image release

To see the unveiling of the first images, you can tune in to the announcement on NASA TV. You can either check this out by going to NASA’s YouTube page or by using the video embedded at the top of this page. The broadcast to release the images begins Tuesday, July 12 at 10:30am ET (7:30am PT).

If you just want to see the images, once published they will be available at first image gallery on the NASA websiteor you can find them in high resolution with more information to be published on the Webb telescope website.

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

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