US stamps feature spectacular James Webb Telescope images

Stunning views of space have been turned into stamp designs in the US.

They were designed and released to celebrate Nasa's James Webb Telescope and the amazing views it shows us of our universe.

The US Post Office has issued two of the telescope's famous images - the Pillars of Creation and the Cosmic Cliffs - as a pair of official stamps.

What do the James Webb Telescope stamps show?

The first of the new stamps shows the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, located roughly 7,600 light-years away from Earth.

The image shows emerging stars that had never been seen before, and was one of the first full-colour images to prove how well the giant telescope could see through cosmic dust and shed new light on how stars are born.

The second features the Pillars of Creation, which shows huge pillars filled with gas and space dust, covering stars that are slowly forming over thousands of years.

The Pillars of Creation are in the Eagle Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years away.

What is the James Webb Telescope?

An artist's view of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Telescope is the largest, most powerful, and most complex telescope in space.

It was launched on Christmas Day in 2021 and has already shown scientists some of the farthest galaxies, stars, and black holes ever observed.

It has given us a more detailed look at planets outside our solar system, and had a close view at our own galaxy too.