musings on the JWST*
Over thirteen billion years ago, a seed began to grow, In a darkened, timeless void without the faintest glow. Our universe, so young, had never seen a day of light, Photons were still held in gravity’s embrace, so tight. As the universe expanded, photons began to stream, To illuminate its future; a surrealistic dream. Galaxies and nebulae condensed from clouds of gas, Leaving in their wakes, subtle clues of their long past. Peering back in time with space-borne infrared eyes we see, The order and the chaos, coexisting gracefully. Some see a beginning, and some will see an end, How often have we come this far, again... and again... and again? *The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in late 2021, is a joint mission of NASA, the ESA and CSA, to investigate the early life of our universe. Parked in orbit a million miles from Earth, its infrared eyes have seen and delivered some of the most stunning images of space that Earthlings have ever seen.
Credits: Left, ESA artist rendering of the JWST. Right, NASA - Thought to show celestial objects from over 13 billion years ago, one of the deepest images taken to date by the JWST.