This is the first colored image of our Universe by JWST

After 14 years of construction at an investment of more than $10 billion, and 6 months of parameterization and testing of its instruments, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is ready to begin its mission to observe the Universe. NASA and US President Joe Biden have shared with the rest of the world the first color photo of the space telescope, giving us our first clear picture of the early days of space.

According to NASA, Webb's First Deep Filed is the clearest and deepest look at the Universe to date. What you see is a picture of a galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723 as it was 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of all the galaxies acts as a gravitational lens that magnifies the more distant stellar bodies visible in the background.

In some of the galaxies, evidence is being observed for the first time that will be given to research astronomers to study the history of the Universe. NASA stresses that the photo does not truly reflect the early years of the universe, and indeed microwave technology telescopes such as the Cosmic Background Explorer have managed to take images closer to the Big Bang, but nowhere near the clarity of JWST.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson pointed out to Joe Biden that what he sees is just a grain of sand on the tip of his finger, as the actual size of the Universe would be the size of an entire hand. So we just have a very, very small sample. This afternoon, NASA will reveal more samples of JWST's capabilities, so expect even more impressive images!