>> FROM THE ROADS IN THE CAPITOL CITY, TO THE SIGHTS IN OUTER SPACE. AFTER A LONG WAIT, THE FIRST IMAGES FROM NASA"S JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE ARE NOW OUT. >> AND THEY’VE SET OFF A ROUND OF REACTIONS ACROSS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. HERE TO TALK TO US ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE IMAGES IS AMBER STRAUGHN, A SCIENTIST ON THE PROJECT. WE ARE GETTING A FULL FIRST LOOK FROM THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE. CAN YOU TELL US WHAT WE’RE SEEING HERE? >> THESE IMAGES ARE JUST A FIRST GLIMPSE OF WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THIS TELESCOPE. WE HAVE SEEN NOW THE DEEPEST VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE WE EVER HAVE. HERE WE ARE SEEING THOUSANDS OF GALAXIES IN THIS BEAUTIFUL PART OF SPACE. EACH DOT THAT YOU SEE IS AN INDIVIDUAL GALAXY WITH HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF STARS. THESE VIEWS ARE SPECTACULAR. >> WEBB IS AN INFRARED TELESCOPE. WHAT IS THAT AND HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM TELESCOPES LIKE HUBBLE? >> THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SEES THE UNIVERSE IN VISIBLE LIGHT LIKE YOUR EYES DO. THIS ONE IS DESIGNED AS AN INFRARED TELESCOPE. THIS ONE ALLOWS US TO PEER THROUGH THE CLOUDS OF DUST TO SEE BRAND NEW STARS BEING FORMED AND EVEN BABY PLANET SYSTEMS. IT’S A NEW KIND OF POWER, A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT THE UNIVERSE THAT WILL FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE WAY WE UNDERSTAND HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS. >> YESTERDAY THIS WAS ALL THE TALK. EXPLAIN TO FOLKS HOW WE ARE ABLE TO SEE THIS. I UNDERSTAND WE ARE LOOKING AT IN THE PAST. >> ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT TELESCOPES, THEY ARE LIKE TIME MACHINES. LIGHT TAKES TIME TO TRAVEL. AS WE LOOK AT THINGS THAT ARE FAR AWAY, THE LIGHT TAKES TIME TO TRAVEL THROUGH SPACE TO GET TO THE TELESCOPE. SOME OF THESE GALAXIES IN THE DEEP FIELD, WE ARE LOOKING AT THEM AS THEY WERE 13.1 BILLION YEARS INTO THE PAST. WE ARE ABLE TO SEE INTO THE PAST TO HELP GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW GALAXIES GOT THEIR START WHICH LEADS US MORE TO UNDERSTANDING HOW OUR OWN SOLAR SYSTEM AND WHEN IT’S GOT STARTED. >> WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO FIND IN FUTURE OBSERVATIONS? >> THIS IS JUST THE START. THIS WAS ONLY FIVE DAYS WORTH OF TIME ON THE TELESCOPE. FIVE DAYS FROM NOW, WE WILL HAVE A WHOLE OTHER BATCH OF IMAGES AND DATA TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD. WE HAVE THE FIRST OBSERVATIONS PLANNED OUT WITH THIS TELESCOPE. I THINK IT’S GOING TO BE AN EXTREMELY EXCITING YEAR FOR ASTRONOMY. I CAN’T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT WE LEARN. >> WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE TO SHARE YOUR EXCITEMENT. I HOPE IT ENCOURAGES YOUNG PEOPLE TO GO INTO STEM CLASSES AND PERHAPS TO BECOME AN ASTRONOMER. >> THAT’S ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABO

NASA scientist says stunning James Webb Telescope photos are just a 'first glimpse'

Photos are a window back in time

Updated: 9:33 PM EDT Jul 13, 2022

This week NASA released images from a new space telescope that has helped to expand our view of the universe.According to NASA, the telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data were released during a televised broadcast on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Scientist Amber Straughn, who worked on the James Webb Space Telescope project, joined sister station KCRA 3 to talk about what early images show. She says the photos provide a window back in time.See the full interview in the video above.

This week NASA released images from a new space telescope that has helped to expand our view of the universe.

According to NASA, the telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data were released during a televised broadcast on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Scientist Amber Straughn, who worked on the James Webb Space Telescope project, joined sister station KCRA 3 to talk about what early images show.

She says the photos provide a window back in time.

See the full interview in the video above.

Astronomers have detected a crucial carbon molecule in space for the first time using the James Webb Space Telescope.The compound, called methyl cation, or CH3+, was traced back to a young star system located 1,350 light-years away from Earth in the Orion Nebula, according to NASA.In the video player above: See images of what the Webb Telescope detectedCarbon compounds are intriguing to scientists because they act as the foundation for all life as we know and understand it. Methyl cation is considered a key component that helps form more complex carbon-based molecules.Understanding how life began and evolved on Earth could help researchers determine if it's possible elsewhere in the universe. The highly sensitive capabilities of the Webb telescope, which views the cosmos through infrared light that is invisible to the human eye, is revealing more about organic chemistry in space.The space observatory detected methyl cation in a protoplanetary disk, called d203-506, swirling around a young red dwarf star. These disks, largely made of gas and dust, are the leftover remnants of star formation. Planets are born in these large stellar halos, giving rise to planetary systems.A study detailing the discovery was published Monday in the journal Nature.The role of ultraviolet radiationRed dwarf stars are much smaller and cooler than our sun, but the d203-506 system is still lashed with strong ultraviolet light from neighboring young, massive stars.In most scenarios, UV radiation is expected to wipe out organic molecules, but the team actually predicted that the radiation could provide a necessary energy source that allows methyl cation to form.After CH3+ forms, it leads to additional chemical reactions that allow more complex carbon molecules to build, even at low temperatures in space.While methyl cation doesn't react efficiently with hydrogen, the most abundant molecule in the universe, it reacts well with a wide range of other molecules. Because of this chemical property, astronomers have long considered CH3+ an important building block of interstellar organic chemistry. But methyl cation wasn't detected in space until now."This detection not only validates the incredible sensitivity of Webb but also confirms the postulated central importance of CH3+ in interstellar chemistry," said study coauthor Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel, a researcher at the University of Paris-Saclay's Institute of Molecular Sciences of Orsay in France, in a statement.Video below: The Webb Telescope recently detected organic molecules in a distant galaxyThe researchers detected different molecules in the protoplanetary disk of d203-506 than those found in typical disks, and they didn't detect any water, according to the study."This clearly shows that ultraviolet radiation can completely change the chemistry of a protoplanetary disk. It might actually play a critical role in the early chemical stages of the origins of life," said lead study author Olivier Berné, research scientist in astrophysics at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Toulouse, in a statement.

CNN (video above from ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA via CNN) —

Astronomers have detected a crucial carbon molecule in space for the first time using the James Webb Space Telescope.

The compound, called methyl cation, or CH3+, was traced back to a young star system located 1,350 light-years away from Earth in the Orion Nebula, according to NASA.

In the video player above: See images of what the Webb Telescope detected

Carbon compounds are intriguing to scientists because they act as the foundation for all life as we know and understand it. Methyl cation is considered a key component that helps form more complex carbon-based molecules.

Understanding how life began and evolved on Earth could help researchers determine if it's possible elsewhere in the universe. The highly sensitive capabilities of the Webb telescope, which views the cosmos through infrared light that is invisible to the human eye, is revealing more about organic chemistry in space.

ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA via CNN

The space observatory detected methyl cation in a protoplanetary disk, called d203-506, swirling around a young red dwarf star. These disks, largely made of gas and dust, are the leftover remnants of star formation. Planets are born in these large stellar halos, giving rise to planetary systems.

A study detailing the discovery was published Monday in the journal Nature.

The role of ultraviolet radiation

Red dwarf stars are much smaller and cooler than our sun, but the d203-506 system is still lashed with strong ultraviolet light from neighboring young, massive stars.

In most scenarios, UV radiation is expected to wipe out organic molecules, but the team actually predicted that the radiation could provide a necessary energy source that allows methyl cation to form.

After CH3+ forms, it leads to additional chemical reactions that allow more complex carbon molecules to build, even at low temperatures in space.

While methyl cation doesn't react efficiently with hydrogen, the most abundant molecule in the universe, it reacts well with a wide range of other molecules. Because of this chemical property, astronomers have long considered CH3+ an important building block of interstellar organic chemistry. But methyl cation wasn't detected in space until now.

"This detection not only validates the incredible sensitivity of Webb but also confirms the postulated central importance of CH3+ in interstellar chemistry," said study coauthor Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel, a researcher at the University of Paris-Saclay's Institute of Molecular Sciences of Orsay in France, in a statement.

Video below: The Webb Telescope recently detected organic molecules in a distant galaxy

The researchers detected different molecules in the protoplanetary disk of d203-506 than those found in typical disks, and they didn't detect any water, according to the study.

"This clearly shows that ultraviolet radiation can completely change the chemistry of a protoplanetary disk. It might actually play a critical role in the early chemical stages of the origins of life," said lead study author Olivier Berné, research scientist in astrophysics at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Toulouse, in a statement.