Calling all philatelists: U.S. Postal Services issues two new JWST stamps

The United States Postal Service has issued two new stamps featuring stellar images beamed back to Earth by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The two new stamps were officially issued on January 21 and highlight some of the powerful space telescope’s recent work.

The Priority Mail stamp features Webb’s depiction of spiral galaxy NGC 628. This galaxy is located about 32 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. The depiction of NGC 628 itself was one of 19 spiral galaxy images first released in January 2024. It combines both near- and mid-infrared light to show glowing gas and dust in various shades of orange and red. The finer spiral shapes have jagged edges.

The U.S. Postal Service issued a Priority Mail stamp January 21, 2025, highlighting an image of the spiral galaxy NGC 628 from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Greg Breeding, an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, designed the stamp with an image from NASA, ESA, CSA, the Space Telescope Science Institute, researchers Janice Lee and Thomas Williams, and the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS team. CREDIT: U.S. Postal Service.

The Priority Mail Express stamp shows JWST’s image of the central portion of star cluster IC 348. The image was first released in December 2023 and was taken in near-infrared light. The purple wispy curtains filling the image are interstellar material that is reflecting the light from the cluster’s stars. Astronomers call this phenomenon a reflection nebula. Star cluster IC 348 is about 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Perseus.

The U.S. Postal Service issued a Priority Mail Express stamp Jan. 21, 2025, featuring an image of star cluster IC 348 from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Greg Breeding, an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, designed the stamp with an image provided by with an image provided by NASA, ESA, CSA, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and researchers Kevin Luhman and Catarina Alves de Oliveira. CREDIT: U.S. Postal Service.

“The James Webb Space Telescope transforms science into art as it continues to capture extraordinary snapshots of deep space brimming with incredible scientific data to be studied for decades to come,” Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement. “NASA Science is literally everywhere, and it continues to deliver for the American people so that everyone can have the opportunity to hold a piece of space in their hands with these breathtaking images beyond our solar system. I am excited that not only my favorite image, the spiral galaxy NGC 628, is featured this year, but that both stamps are taking us on an incredible journey into our cosmic history from one mailbox to another.”

The U.S. Postal Service previously issued stamps that celebrate JWST and its accomplishments in 2022 and 2024. The 2022 stamps featured a photograph of the telescope itself. Last year’s stamps were of two of JWST’s most well-known images–the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula and the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula. The image of the Cosmic Cliffs was the first full-color image made with data from JWST and was released in July 2022.

Since its launch on December 25, 2021, JWST has revealed some of the farthest  galaxies, stars, and black holes that humans have ever observed. The joint venture between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has also given astronomers detailed looks at the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. It has also addressed some of the most pressing mysteries about the early universe, including the earliest earliest galaxy ever observed.

Stamps can be purchased online or at your local post office.