NASA combined X-ray data from its Chandra X-Ray Observatory with infrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope to create gorgeous new composite images that it released today - showcasing the capabilities of both instruments. .
The space agency's James Webb, which released its first images to worldwide acclaim in July, was always meant to work in partnership with NASA's other telescopes and observatories - whether on the ground or in space. .
The newly released images depict Webb's earliest observations, including Stephens Quintet, the Cartwheel Galaxy, SMACS 0723..3-7327 and the Cosmic Cliffs of the Carina Nebula. .
The Cartwheel galaxy (above) gets its shape from a collision with another smaller galaxy about 100 million years ago.
The Cartwheel galaxy gets its shape from a collision with another smaller galaxy about 100 million years ago. .
Webb’s infrared view (red, orange, yellow, green, blue) shows the Cartwheel galaxy plus two smaller companion galaxies — which are not part of the collision — against a backdrop of many more distant galactic cousins
Webb data shows the galaxy cluster SMACS J0723, which is located about 4.2 billion light-years away, containing hundreds of individual galaxies
Webb data shows the galaxy cluster SMACS J0723, which is located about 4.2 billion light-years away, containing hundreds of individual galaxies
'In this image, the Chandra data (blue) reveals gas with temperatures of tens of millions of degrees, possessing a total mass of about 100 trillion times that of the Sun, several times higher than the mass of all the galaxies in the cluster
The newly released images depict (clockwise, from top left): Stephens Quintet, the Cartwheel Galaxy, the Cosmic Cliffs of the Carina Nebula and SMACS 0723..3-7327
The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe
The James Webb Telescope and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of roughly 40 Kelvin – about minus 387 Fahrenheit (minus 233 Celsius)
The orbiting infrared observatory is designed to be about 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida