The James Webb Space Telescope: A Window into the Universe’s Past - Livestream

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest and most complex telescope ever put into service in space.  The Webb telescope is an infrared telescope designed to look back in time to when the first stars and galaxies formed.  It was developed by a collaboration between NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). It cost ~$10 B to build and test and took over two decades to go from concept to working hardware.

I will describe what Webb does and why it is groundbreaking for modern astronomy.  In particular, I will explain why it is an infrared telescope.  Finally, I will show some beautiful “false color” images captured by JWST.  These range from images of objects within our own solar system, to star forming regions and nebulae within our own Milky Way Galaxy, to far distant galaxies that existed within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. The latter have never been observed until now.

Speaker: Dr. Peter Love

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