Have you ever looked up in the night sky and wished you could see the stars closer? You're not alone! Astronomers, scientists who study outer space, worked for 28 years to make the James Webb Space Telescope. Astronomers from the United States, Europe, and Canada carefully designed and assembled the telescope that allows us to see further into the galaxy than humans ever have before.  

The telescope has been in space for almost 3 years, since December 2021. It sends us pictures from the deep reaches of the starry expanse surrounding Earth. The telescope observes in red and infrared light, which is a type of light human eyes can’t see. Once the pictures arrive on Earth, scientists use a computer program to translate that infrared light into the beautiful colors we see in pictures of space. This process lets us see all the different parts of the galaxies, nebulas, and stars. Different gasses, clouds of dust, and other chemicals are all represented by different colors.  

This picture, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope,  shows us a part of space called the Rho Ophiuchi Region. Rho Ophiuchi is a stellar nursery, which is a region where stars form! The bright stars in the photo are young stars. The deep red swirls are jets made of hydrogen gas, which burst out in the moment a star first forms. The other swirls of colors are other gases and dust, which someday may become stars.   

The museum has this picture and others on display in our newest exhibit, Capturing the Cosmos. We talk about the telescope, the science behind seeing the galaxy, and the people who study space — including our own students at the University of Oregon!