A Reminder of How Small We Really Are (JWST Images)

[MrBirdman]

Those space nerds here will know that the James Webb Space Telescope's first images were released over the last 24 hours. For those unaware, it is the successor to the Hubble telescope. Hubble is arguably the single most productive scientific instrument ever built, and Webb has 7 times the power.

The image below is a portion of the sky equivalent in size to a grain a sand held at arm's length. All but about two dozen of those spots is a galaxy - each containing on average tens of billions of stars. Some of this light originated over 13 billion years ago. It's overwhelming.

[Ford2112]

They exist

[Chibearsv]

That's very cool

[RedLantern]

Whenever I try to comprehend the scale of the universe (or even solar system for that matter) I get a little bit nauseous for some reason - it's truly disorienting. Ironically, it also tends to quiet my existential discontent. 

[Fuzz]

7 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

They exist

The Earth moves through space. We all live on Earth. Therefore we are space travelers.

8 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

Those space nerds here will know that the James Webb Space Telescope's first images were released over the last 24 hours. For those unaware, it is the successor to the Hubble telescope. Hubble is arguably the single most productive scientific instrument ever built, and Webb has 7 times the power.

The image below is a portion of the sky equivalent in size to a grain a sand held at arm's length. All but about two dozen of those spots is a galaxy - each containing on average tens of billions of stars. Some of this light originated over 13 billion years ago. It's overwhelming.

Somebody is gonna steal that for their next album cover.

[Puros Y Vino]

43 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

The Earth moves through space. We all live on Earth. Therefore we are space travelers.

Somebody is gonna steal that for their next album cover.

Already done....