NASA will reveal the first full-color images this week

NASA is set to release its first full-color science photos taken by the James Webb Space Telescope on Monday and Tuesday.

Why it matters: This long-awaited milestone will kick off the rest of the telescope’s $10 billion mission to reshape our understanding of how the universe evolved from the earliest galaxies to today.

Breaking News: President Biden is expected to unveil the first full-color image Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET, and NASA will release the remaining images Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET.

• You can watch a live stream of both announcements via NASA TV.
• NASA has already released some early alignment images taken by JWST, but this week’s images will be the first full-color images to show what the telescope can really do.

What to watch: The images are expected to showcase JWST’s wide range of science objectives.

• The first batch will reveal the fine details of star formation, the atmosphere of an exoplanet, an incredibly deep image of the universe, a cluster of galaxies and more, according to NASA.

The big picture: JWST is expected to change everything about how scientists understand the early history of our cosmos.

• Using infrared light, the telescope will be able to pierce cosmic dust and see further into the past than ever before, revealing the first galaxies and stars forming in a nascent universe.