In just its first year of operation, the James Webb Space Telescope has made amazing discoveries ranging from planets in our solar system out to the farthest galaxies in deep space. Learn all about the telescope and see the best of the images it has taken in the past year. The event includes presentations, fun paper activities, videos, and mission giveaways (while they last).
Our special guest at the museum will be Tony Hull. He supervised the polishing of Webb's mirrors and is now an adjunct professor at UNM. At 4 p.m., Prof. Hull will describe how Webb was made, launched, and positioned a million miles from Earth. Then at 5 p.m., NASA will present a special broadcast featuring the best of Webb's images so far along with interpretation from these online experts:
- Dr. Christine Chen (STScI) - Expert in debris disks and star & planet formation
- Dr. Bryan Holler (STScI) - Expert in solar system planetary science
- Dr. Taylor Hutchison (NASA-GSFC) - Expert in early galaxies
- Dr. Emily Rickman (STScI) - Expert in exoplanets
Webb has identifies the earliest strands of the cosmic web, found that the early universe crackled with bursts of star formation, proved that galaxies transformed the early universe and made the first detection of a carbon molecule, never before seen in space, that is a cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry. Find out more at the mission's website: https://webbtelescope.org
The event will be held in the museum's STEM lecture hall. It's included with museum admission until 4:30 p.m., making a fun conclusion to your museum visit. It can also be accessed for free, without the museum, by the education entrance on the north side of the building starting at 4:30.