To Universes Beyond with the James Webb Space Telescope

To Universe Beyond with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the topic for the 2022 Grazella Shepherd Lecture Day. Professor Chris Mihos and his graduate student Ray Garner of the CWRU Astronomy Department will be speaking this morning. This year’s moderator, Dr. Bill Janesh, who will be presenting your questions during the afternoon Q&A, is also in the same department. Our speakers will address the wonder, purpose, and future of the JWST as it sends back information about the origin and development of universe far beyond our known or imagined ones. Why, we may ask, is this important?

Finding the earliest galaxies requires very low foreground light levels, ultra-sharp images over large areas, and studies at many infrared wavelengths, a combination of observing conditions only available from space. The JWST, launched on December 21, 2021, provides these unique conditions and will help scientists to, among many things:

• Observe the era of our universe’s history when galaxies began to form;

• Learn more about supermassive black holes and whether they cause galaxies or vice versa;

• Learn more about the history of the acceleration of the universe that we attribute to dark energy;

• And, as with the Hubble Space Telescope, discover new, never before imagined space events.

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