The clear and detailed images coming in from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) depicting far-off galactic phenomena have captured our imaginations and set our eyes towards the stars. A collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, JWST revolutionizes our understanding of the universe. Astronomers will use it for a variety of applications, from studying the first galaxies that ever formed in the Universe to measuring the atmospheric chemistry of planets around other stars.
Some of Wisconsin's best and brightest astronomical minds have been working hard to engineer the technology behind JWST and to interpret the data coming down from it. Meet one of these scientists, UW-Madison astronomer Dr. Michael Maseda, in this free webinar discussing the engineering marvels behind JWST. Dr. Maseda unpacks the scientific implications of the first images that were released in July, images which give a taste of the kinds of science astronomers will be doing with the telescope in the years to come. Dr. Maseda uses observational data from large telescopes to characterize the physical processes happening inside galaxies. He was involved in the development of NIRSpec, one of the instruments at work on the James Webb Space Telescope.
