The James Webb Space Telescope will show us more stars than we've ever seen before - Space.com

You've probably heard of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, but do you know what it's actually going to do.

The observatory, which is currently undergoing calibration to prepare for the start of its operations this summer, is laden with high-resolution cameras and infrared instruments that will be able to capture crisp images of stars in our local universe — even ones obscured by gas and dust clouds.

"NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have been transformative, opening the door to the infrared universe, beyond the realm of red visible light," Webb scientist Daniel Weisz, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement.

"Webb is a natural evolution of those missions, combining Spitzer's view of the infrared universe with Hubble's sensitivity and resolution." .

Related: How the James Webb Space Telescope works in pictures.

Yet as powerful as Webb is, it still isn't capable of imaging the oldest, most distant galaxies in the universe.

Instead, scientists will examine galaxies in the Local Group, a cluster of 20 galaxies with a diameter of approximately 3 megaparsecs (about 10 million light-years) — which is considered "close" by astronomical standards — to learn about the larger universe, especially the early universe.

— NASA's James Webb Space Telescope: The ultimate guide.

— James Webb Space Telescope plans probe of massive star radiation.

— Building the James Webb Space Telescope: Hubble's successor (gallery).