Hubble v/s James Webb telescope: A closer look

With the release of the new images from the new James Webb Space telescope, many of us must have wondered just how advanced the 13-billion USD telescope really is. James Webb is the 'successor' of the Hubble telescope, on which Nasa had placed its bets on for more than three decades. 

What can each do? Here’s a comparison.

Hubble v/s James Webb telescope: Hubble was launched in 1990 and is still one of the most versatile telescopes in the world. The James Webb telescope was launched on July 11, 2022. Nasa estimates the cost of Hubble at about $16 billion. On the other hand, James Webb, whose construction took 20 years, cost Nasa about $10 billion.

Deep fields: The Webb telescope's deep field image was the first one that Nasa made public. Deep field is simply a sky image with a very long exposure time to identify distant stars and galaxies. 

Southern Ring Nebula: The southern ring nebula is a planetary nebula approximately 2,500 light years away, in the constellation Vela.

Stephan’s Quintet: Stephan's Quintet, to put it simply, is a collection of five galaxies that frequently appear together. Scientists on the ground combined approximately 1,000 individual images taken by the telescopes to arrive at the final images. 

Carina Nebula: The Carina Nebula is a bright nebula that covers several clusters of stars. This fantasy-land-like nebula is home to a dozen stars, each heavier than the mass of the sun.