The images released by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team last week aren’t officially ‘first light’ images from the new telescope, but in a way, it feels like they are. These stunning views provide the initial indications of just how powerful JWST will be, and just how much infrared astronomy is about to improve.

The images were released following the completion of the long process to fully focus the telescope’s mirror segments. Engineers are saying JWST’s optical performance is “better than the most optimistic predictions,” and astronomers are beside themselves with excitement. //

“It hasn’t broken the laws of physics, but does lie at the very best end of possibilities thanks to the extraordinary efforts of many over decades,” said Mark McCaughrean, the European Space Agency’s Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration and part of JWST’s Science Working Group, on Twitter.

In their excitement, astronomers began posting comparison images — from previous telescopes to JWST in the same field of view — showing the evolution of improvement in resolution.

Astronomer Andras Gaspar, who works with JWST’s mid-infrared instrument, MIRI, compiled images from the WISE (Wide Infrared Survey Explorer) telescope to JWST’s image of the same field of view, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. //

“To be fair, WISE with its 40 cm diameter telescope was only half the size of Spitzer’s [85cm primary] but both of them are tiny compared to JWST [6.5 meter primary]” Gaspar said on Twitter. “This is what you get with a large aperture! Resolution and sensitivity. And MIRI gives mid-IR! HST [Hubble Space Telescope}] can’t get this wavelength.”