The cutting-edge observatory is charged with seeing some of the earliest visible light, and the recent image achieves a new milestone in stellar astronomy.

Taking advantage of a cosmic "double lens," astronomers resolved more than 40 individual stars in a galaxy so far away its light dates back to when the universe was only half its present age.

Gravitational lenses have been used previously to resolve individual stars in the distant Universe. Using the microlensing of rogue intracluster stars, a team led by astronomer Yoshinobu Fudamoto of Chiba University in Japan was able to resolve an unprecedented 44 individual stars in the smeared light of the Dragon Arc.

Telescopes like Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope can observe some incredibly distant galaxies, stretching all the way back to the early universe. However, spotting individual stars in distant galaxies is tricky even for Webb and its massive primary mirror.

The James Webb Space Telescope captured images of 44 individual stars in a gorgeous portrait of a distant galaxy.