U.S. releases first image from James Webb Space Telescope

LOS ANGELES, July 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden released one of the James Webb Space Telescope's first images in a preview event at the White House on Monday.

This first image from Webb is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date, NASA said.

This image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is filled with thousands of galaxies, including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared, which have appeared in Webb's view for the first time, said NASA.

The busy image with hundreds of specks, streaks, spirals and swirls of white, yellow, orange and red is only "one little speck of the universe," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

Webb was launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 25, 2021, to probe structures and origins of the universe.

Webb is NASA's largest and most powerful space science telescope ever constructed. With a 6.5-meter primary mirror, the large infrared telescope will study every phase of cosmic history, from within the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, said NASA.