images of the cosmos that were captured# by the powerful James Webb Telescope.

But, as science correspondent Miles# O'Brien tells us, getting those images,## including the newest one released# today of dozens of stars being formed,## is only part of the important work# being done by the $10 billion telescope.

MILES O'BRIEN: For the James Webb Space Telescope,## the hits just keep coming, one# riveting image after another,## from the far reaches of the universe, to# planets right here in our own solar system.

We got our first taste a year ago,# and the images did not disappoint,## the Carina Nebula, Stephan's# Quintet, and, spectacularly,## this so-called deep field image showing thousands# of galaxies stretching into the distant universe.

How much stunning science was in there as well?

JOHN MATHER, NASA Goddard# Space Flight Center: Well,## we're still wo MILES O'BRIEN: That's NASA astrophysicist# on Webb since its inception back in the mid-1990s.

JOHN MATHER: Well, I think the# people are really interested in## what are the surprises that were# getting ou they want to see the beautiful pictures# and be told wh And then they say, well, what's new?

What did# you find out that we didn't of course, the big answers are, the first# galaxies grew differently than we expected,## and we don't know why their --# all the predictions were wrong.

MILES O'BRIEN: Webb is shedding light## on the big answers because It operates in the infrared wavelength.

Invisible# to human eyes, this part of the spectrum is the## only way to see the most distant objects in space# that are moving away from us as the universe## expands.

Before Webb launched, astronomers# used near-infrared instruments aboard the## Hubble space telescope to see galaxies that date# to about a half-billion years after the Big Bang.

But Webb can see a few hundred million# years further back in time.

Astronomers## hoped they might catch glimpses of the# universe before stars and galaxies formed.

MARC POSTMAN, Space Telescope# Science Institute: And yet we## see galaxies already exist at that tim MILES O'BRIEN: Marc Postman is# interim deputy director at the## Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

MARC POSTMAN: It doesn't refute Big Bang# cosmolog But what it does say is, we do have to learn# new ways of getting stars and galaxies to## assemble very quickly after the Big Bang,# within a couple of hundred million years.

MILES O'BRIEN: But the most interesting findings## for astronomers don't come from Ca se in point, Uranus.

HEIDI HAMMEL, James Webb Space Telescope:# I have t because that's what these science# observations were have some images, and they're fine,# but the spectroscopy blew us away.

MILES O'BRIEN: Heidi Hammel is# a scientist on the Webb team who## focuses on solar system observations.

Webb's# science instruments generate spectroscopy## data that astronomers use to study the# chemical composition of objects in space.

If we were to train one on Earth, we# would detect the different compounds## found here on this planet.

For astronomers,# a spectrograph is worth 1,000 pictures.

HEIDI HAMMEL: We are seeing evidence# of chemistry that we had hypothesized.## They're like laboratory textbook examples# of chemistry of ethane and methane and## acetylene and all this interesting, dynamical# stuff in the atmosphere of Uranus.

And that## is very interesting, because that's new# chemistry that we hadn't thought about.

MILES O'BRIEN: Still, Heidi Hammel will# confess to being wowed by a great image.

This is not processed at all.

And then you... JUDY SCHMIDT, Volunteer# Colorist: I believe this has..

MILES O'BRIEN: How many filter JUDY SCHMIDT: This only --# this picture only had two MILES O'BRIEN: OK.

In Modesto, California I sat do happen.

Judy Schmidt describes# herself as a celestial artist.

How many images would you say you# have processed over the years?

JUDY SCHMIDT: Oh, God.

MILES O'BRIEN: JUDY MI JU She's a stay-a she's made a hobby out of processing# and color-correcting astronomy images## in her home office, posting# her work on Flickr and Twitter.

MILES O'BRIEN: You're trying to let us see# something we can't see, right?

That's hard.

JUDY SCHMIDT: Yes, but there's# a natural order of wavelengths.

So, even though it's infrared, I'm still using the# same, I guess, formula to put together an image,## where the shortest wavelengths# will be represented by blue,## and then the medium wavelengths get represented# by green, and then the longest then in the red.

MILES O'BRIEN: Among her most# celebrated work, Hubble images## of the comet Shoemaker-Levy# 9 impacting Jupiter in 1994.

So, when Webb scientists pulled# down fresh images of Jupiter,## Heidi Hammel gave Schmidt a crack at those too.

JUDY SCHMIDT: I just thought it was very fun and# something to do with my li some astronomers' day by showing# interest in their work and making## a pretty image out of it, then# I thought that was awesome too.

MILES O'BRIEN: So you're like the# dean of the citizen science image## processors at this point.

And do you imagine# quitting?

Or are you going to JU DY SCHMIDT: I don't feel like it will ever end# as long as there's space telescopes in the sky.

MILES O'BRIEN: But there's little# concern space telescopes will fade away.

This is a special place if you care about# astronomy and space telescopes, right?

JULIE MCENERY, Nancy Grace Roman Space# Telescope: Absolutely.

This is where## some of the most important observatories# as sembled, tested and made ready to go into space.

MILES O'BRIEN: I caught a glimpse# of NASA's next flagship observatory## under assembly at the Goddard Space# Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Julie McEnery is the senior project scientist# on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

JULIE MCENERY: So if you were to compare us# to Webb, Webb will look at a small region of## the sky with exquisite sensitivity and# sharpness, and it can tell you what's## happening right at the beginning, right# at the earliest times in our universe.

What Roman will do will tell you# what happened between then and now.

MILES O'BRIEN: The team hopes to launch by 2026.# There is no doubt they hav For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Miles# O'Brien in Greenbelt, Maryland.