James Webb updates: NASA reveals 5 stunning, new images from telescope

A new image released by NASA from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a planetary nebula, known as the Southern Ring Nebula, as it is dying.

The image shows a star expelling gas and dust as it dims with the ionized gas seen in "unprecedented detail."

According to NASA, the star at the center of the image has been sending out rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions and the telescope revealed it is "cloaked" in dust.

NASA has begun releasing the long-awaited new images from the James Webb Space Telescope.

One of the first images revealed during a televised broadcast Tuesday from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, shows a graph of the atmospheric composition of WASP-96 b, the largest planet outside of our solar system.

Officials explained that as the planet passes in front of star, the starlight filters through the atmosphere as it passed, which is broken down into wavelengths of light.

The graph indicates the presence of water vapor, which is evidence that the planet had clouds, which were once thought not to exist there, NASA explained.

The data also demonstrates, "Webb’s unprecedented ability to analyze atmospheres hundreds of light-years away," the space agency said.

Ahead of the release Tuesday of the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA has revealed a list of the telescope's first targets.

Among them is the Carina Nebula, which is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky -- according to the space agency -- and located about 7,600 light-years away.

Other targets include WASP-96 b, the largest planet outside of our solar system, and the Southern Ring Nebula, which is a planetary nebula, or a cloud of gas that encircles a dying star.

The telescope will also examine Stephan's Quintet, a group of five galaxies located 290 million light-years away and of which four are "locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters," NASA said.

The final target is the SMACS 0723, which is a cluster of galaxies that distorts the light of objects behind it and will allow scientists to look at planets, stars and other objects that would have been otherwise invisible to the human eye.

President Joe Biden unveiled the first full-color image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The image, revealed during a press event held at the White House Monday and also attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, shows multiple galaxies.

It is the highest-resolution image of the universe ever captured, officials said.

"Today is a historic day," said Biden. "It’s a new window into the history of our universe and today we’re going to get a first glimpse of the light to shine through that window."

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the light seen on the image has been traveling for over 13 billion years.