From a deep view of the distant universe to stars forming inside dusty clouds, James Webb Space Telescope images showed a striking range of cosmic scenes in its first two years of public science operations. This is an editorially curated tour, chosen for visual distinction, scientific story, and variety—not an official NASA ranking. The period here runs from Webb’s first image reveal on July 11, 2022, to its second science anniversary on July 12, 2024.
What made Webb’s first images different?
Webb observes primarily in infrared light. NASA processes and colors that data so people can see it; the resulting images are not ordinary visible-light snapshots. Infrared observations can reveal features hidden by dust, including active star-forming regions. Webb’s first releases also demonstrated different kinds of observations: distant galaxies, nebulae, a star-forming region, and an exoplanet atmosphere spectrum.
NASA’s Webb’s First Images page collects the original release stories, captions, credits, and high-resolution image links.
Webb’s first public images: five different views of the universe
1. SMACS 0723 First Deep Field — July 11, 2022
Webb’s first full-color image looked toward the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. NASA said the cluster appears as it did 4.6 billion years ago. Its gravity acts as a lens, magnifying more distant galaxies behind it; the small patch of sky contains thousands of galaxies.
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The composite used 12.5 hours of NIRCam exposures. At the time of its release, NASA said it reached infrared depths beyond Hubble’s deepest fields, which had taken weeks to observe. That was NASA’s contemporaneous comparison, not a claim about today’s record-holder. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called it “the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe, so far” in the July 2022 release.
Read NASA’s First Deep Field announcement for the release context and image details.
2. Carina Nebula, NGC 3324 — July 12, 2022
Often described as a cosmic landscape, this view shows the edge of a star-forming region in the Carina Nebula. Infrared observations reveal areas of star birth that had been hidden from view, making the image a vivid example of what Webb can uncover inside dusty clouds.
3. Southern Ring Nebula — July 12, 2022
This image shows a shell of gas expanding from a dying star. It offers a different stage of stellar life from the newborn stars in Carina: material shed by a star as it approaches the end of its life.
4. Stephan’s Quintet — July 12, 2022
Stephan’s Quintet is a close-looking grouping of galaxies, including galaxies interacting with one another. Webb’s view brings galaxy-scale structure and interaction into the opening set, alongside the star-forming and stellar-death scenes.
5. WASP-96 b spectrum — July 12, 2022
Not every first-release result was a conventional picture. Webb also presented spectrum data for the exoplanet WASP-96 b, showing how observations of light can reveal information about a planet’s atmosphere. Together, the five targets demonstrated a range of Webb camera and spectrograph capabilities. NASA’s first-images release covers the four targets unveiled after the First Deep Field.
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One image for each of Webb’s first two anniversaries
6. Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex — July 12, 2023
For Webb’s first science anniversary, NASA released a close view of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, where Sun-like stars are forming. It shifts the scale from distant galaxies to the origins of stars like our own Sun. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory notes that red features show molecular hydrogen illuminated by jets from young stars. See NASA JPL’s anniversary image story.
7. Arp 142, the Penguin and the Egg — July 12, 2024
Webb marked its second science anniversary with an image of two interacting galaxies nicknamed the Penguin and the Egg. The view combines near-infrared NIRCam and mid-infrared MIRI data. Blue scattered starlight and new star formation are visible in the distorted Penguin galaxy.
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NASA says the two galaxies are approximately the same mass and made their first pass 25–75 million years ago, triggering new star formation in the Penguin. The image returns to galaxy interactions, but with a distinctive pair whose encounter is still shaping what we see. NASA’s second-anniversary image story provides its caption and details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where to see and download more James Webb telescope photos
For the original five-target release, start with NASA’s Webb’s First Images. To explore more than the selections in this article, NASA’s Webb Image Galleries offers collections organized by year along with search and filtering. The galleries link to image pages and available high-resolution versions.
These images are scientific infrared observations rendered for human viewing, rather than photographs made by a consumer telescope. Their colors and details help communicate data collected by Webb’s instruments.
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