Regardless of how one feels about the naming of the JWST, there can be no debate — about its peepers: the gain in visual acuity is nothing short of breathtaking.

Both Hubble and Spitzer took wonderful images, even into the infrared, as well — for their day. But the Webb, or JWST as I refer to it… is like using binoculars for the first time, after hunting down hummingbirds, with your bare eyes… for decades. These are the same star forming region inside our own Milky Way, in a spot called Herbig-Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50), or the “Cosmic Tornado”.

It is very nearby — right in the neighborhood, when we are speaking in galaxy-scales.

I’ll offer more on the interstellar science about it all — and a nice new masthead… likely over the coming weekend.

But I wanted to pause here a moment — to note the geometric leap we’ve made in imaging, in under one crop of undergrads. These are things to smile about, even as a Secretary of Defense lies to our faces. Onward.

नमस्ते