Article by: Andacs Robert Eugen, on 21 June 2022, at 11:19 am Los Angeles time

We are all looking forward to the first clear, full-color image of the powerful James Webb Space Telescope launched last December 25th.

Webb's first high-quality image will also mark the beginning of Cycle 1 of scientific observations for deciphering the Universe.

But what could the telescope show us in this image that would be presented to the public on July 12, 2022?

The honest answer to this question is that it is not known. Not even scientists know what James Webb might see, but there are some things to expect.

First of all, the image may not yet contain an exoplanet or data about its atmospheres. This will be done much later during the Cycle.

Black holes are quite difficult to find in the Universe, and those already found may be hard to observe by a new telescope.

So the most possible options are:

1. The James Webb Telescope will make a spectacular image of a star, cluster, or other group of stars. A much more advanced image than any image of a star ever made by a telescope.

2. If we are lucky, we may be able to see a galaxy in as much detail as possible so that we can certify the power and high quality of the telescope. If Webb takes a picture of a galaxy, it will be as beautiful as the beauty of the universe.

3. An image of a nebula captured in X-rays, so we will largely observe its emissions. For such an image, the telescope could take even less than 48 hours of observations, which makes this option very possible.

But even if the top 3 options are the most probable, the researchers still don't know exactly what the true power of the telescope is.

So we can expect almost anything, even if some options seem a little difficult to imagine and require several days/month of observation.

NASA has so far completed the verification and commissioning of 8 of the 17 modes of scientific instruments attached to the telescope.

This means that most likely by the time Webb makes the first high-quality image, all modes of scientific instruments will have already been verified and put into operation for future observations.