The most stunning images NASA's James Webb Telescope took from space this year

It's been a year since the James Webb Space Telescope was launched, and it's been enchanting us with breathtaking pictures from space.

Our naked eye would never be able to see what the telescope sees: travelling through light and space, James Webb can see the origins of the universe - something our minds can hardly begin to grasp.

Working like a time machine, the first images shared by this powerful telescope on July 12 showed us far-off galaxies, the death of stars, and the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system.

Below are some of the most stunning pictures it released so far.

The James Webb Telescope captured a highly detailed of the iconic Pillars of Creation - first made famous by images taken by NASA's Hubble Telescope in 1995 - where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. 

The three-dimensional pillars look like rock formations but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear - at times - semi-transparent in near-infrared light.

Building on images taken in 1995 and 2014, Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region. 

Over time, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.

On October 28, NASA released a second image of the Pillars of Creation, this time as seen by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). And it's haunting - in NASA's words, this exceptionally dusty rendering makes it both sombre and "chilling". 

That's because while mid-infrared light specialises in detailing where dust is, at