Highlights from JWST Commissioning and Early Science

Since the launch of JWST on December 25th 2021, we have witnessed the start of a new era in observational astronomy. After decades of development, JWST is finally in space, opening a new window on the Universe in the infrared. Operating at L2, JWST provides continuous spectral coverage from 0.6 to 28.5 micron with a rich suite of instrumentation, in a stable cold temperature environment. During the 6-month commissioning period, the observatory was successfully deployed and, following meticulously planned and much rehearsed procedures, the segmented telescope was phased, aligned and focused. During the final 2 months of commissioning the 4 science instruments - NIRCam, NIRISS, NIRSpec and MIRI - were fully checked out and readied for the start of the observatory's exciting science mission - culminating in the release of a first set of science images, the Early Release Observations. I will present some highlights of the commissioning program and first exciting science results from JWST.