A New Era in Astronomy: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope has completely revolutionized our understanding of the universe, and has become a beloved icon of popular culture.
As revolutionary as Hubble has been, we have pushed it to its scientific limits in many ways. Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, has been in the works for almost two decades and is scheduled to launch in late 2018. It will be 100 times more powerful than Hubble.
In her Perimeter Public Lecture, Dr. Amber Straughn will provide an update on the progress of building the world's largest-yet space telescope, and will give an overview of the astronomical questions we hope to answer with Webb. These questions get to the heart of what it means to be human: Where did we come from? How did we get here? Are we alone?
(from insidetheperimeter.ca)
| A New Era in Astronomy: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope |
| Related Links |
| Hubble Space Telescope A documentary film to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and beautiful images from the Hubble Space Telescope. |
| Hunting the Edge of Space This is a two-part PBS documentary examining how a simple instrument, the telescope, has fundamentally changed our understanding of our place in the universe. |
| The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide This is a BBC documentary series presented by Adam Hart-Davis, offering an introductory look at the world beyond us. |
| 400 Years of the Telescope This lecture coincides with the 400th anniversary of the first use of a telescope to observe the heavens by Galileo Galilei in 1609. |
| New Eyes on Space: James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope will continue to revolutionize our study of the cosmos. Slated for launch in late 2018, Webb will look deeper than either the Hubble or Spitzer Space Telescopes at infrared wavelengths. |
| Large Telescopes and Why We Need Them Beyond the Solar System, all astronomers have to work with is the light that falls to the Earth from distant cosmic objects. Newer, larger telescopes are always needed to boost scientific progress. |
| Watchers of the Skies How our knowledge and understanding of the universe has increased over the centuries so that we now have a surprisingly accurate idea of its size, age and makeup. |