American space agency NASA has said that the James Webb space telescope, will release its first full-colour images and spectroscopic data on July 12. The telescope, built in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), was launched in December last year.
The telescope is undergoing a six-month phase of setup before it can begin science work, calibrating its instruments to space environment and positioning the mirrors, as the largest and most sophisticated observatory ever launched into space, NASA said in a release on Wednesday.
"This careful process, not to mention years of new technology development and mission planning, has built up to the first images and data: a demonstration of Webb at its full power, ready to begin its science mission and unfold the infrared universe," it further said.
"As we near the end of preparing the observatory for science, we are on the precipice of an incredibly exciting period of discovery about our universe. The release of Webb's first full-color images will offer a unique moment for us all to stop and marvel at a view humanity has never seen before," said Eric Smith, Webb programme scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
"These images will be the culmination of decades of dedication, talent, and dreams - but they will also be just the beginning," he added further.
These images will be shot in infrared, and then colourised for public consumption. They will be the first in full colour and the first to showcase the telescope's full science capabilities.
Webb, which is expected to cost NASA nearly $10 billion (roughly Rs. 7,750 crore), is among the most expensive scientific platforms ever built, comparable to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and its predecessor telescope, Hubble.
Its mission also includes the study of distant planets, known as exoplanets, to determine their origin, evolution and habitability.
