Jwst celebrates its first year of science with another incredible image and a new head of science – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Richard Lawler
JWST celebrates its first year of science with another incredible image and a new head of science.

We’ve been following the story of NASA’s next-gen James Webb Space Telescope for years, but now it’s been in operation for an entire year.

You can watch Loren Grush talk through those first images, check out the first Earth-sized exoplanet it discovered, or check out our breakdown of major highlights from its first year.

Also, Space.com notes NASA recently announced Jane Rigby is the JWST’s new senior project scientist. Named the 2022 LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year by Out to Innovate, Rigby was one of three commissioning scientists for JWST and replaces John Mather, who had been in the role since 1995.

An active star-forming region. Red dual opposing jets coming from young stars fill the darker top half of the image, while a glowing pale-yellow, cave-like structure is bottom center, tilted toward two o’clock, with a bright star at its center. The dust of the cave structure becomes wispy toward eight o’clock, trailing off and allowing stars and distant galaxies to show through. Above the arched top of the dust cave three groupings of stars with diffraction spikes are arranged.
The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI)
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