15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

By Malavika Pradeep

Published Jul 13, 2022 at 09:45 AM

Reading time: 1 minute

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On 12 July 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shared the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date—documented by its James Webb Space Telescope. Dubbed as the world’s most powerful space telescope, Webb captured the stunning picture in less than a day, while similar images from the Hubble Space Telescope (which was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990) can reportedly take weeks.

“If you held a grain of sand to the sky at arm’s length, that speck is the size of Webb’s view here,” NASA captioned its post on Instagram. “Imagine—galaxies galore within a grain!” The organisation also reminded how this isn’t the farthest back we’ve seen into the universe either. ⁣”Non-infrared missions like COBE & WMAP saw the universe closer to the Big Bang (about 380,000 years after), when there was microwave background radiation, but no stars or galaxies. Webb sees a few 100 million years after,” it explained.

As NASA continued to release more pictures from the series of first images captured by Webb, President Biden remarked, “These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things, and remind the American people—especially our children—that there’s nothing beyond our capacity. We can see possibilities no one has ever seen before. We can go places no one has ever gone before.”

Well, as it turns out, among emotional wallpaper edits and humbling existential crises, the internet did see possibilities in the marvellous images and went places no one has ever gone before… in meme culture. Here are 15 of the best memes that shook the internet following Webb’s first iconic image of the universe.

1. Come on and slam, and welcome to the jam!

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

2. We’ve been living in a 90s arcade all along

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

3. Hubble can never

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

4. The time has come

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

5. Conspiracy theorists are quaking

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

6. Reminds me of the time the internet anthropomorphised a black hole into an anime girl

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

7. Okay, this one’s a beautiful analogy

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

8. I’d like to believe this image was an emotional moment for everyone

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

9. Best use of the template yet

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

10. Nothing a bit of zooming and enhancing can’t fix

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

11. Tough break

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

12. Hubble just needs some space, okay?

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

13. Coming to stores near you in three weeks

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

14. Throwback to the Tumblr era

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

15. Show the others some love too!

15 hilarious memes as the internet reacts to James Webb Telescope’s sharpest image of the universe

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