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Astronomy Colloquium
The James Webb Space Telescope
Date: Thursday, March 12th
Time: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Place: 4421 Sterling Hall
Speaker: Jonathan Gardner, NASA
Abstract: The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. It will be a large (6.6m) cold (50K) telescope launched into orbit around the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point. It is a partnership of NASA with the European and Canadian Space Agencies. The science goals for JWST include the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the early universe; the chemical, morphological and dynamical buildup of galaxies, the formation of stars and planetary systems and understanding our Solar System. Webb has four instruments: The Near-Infrared Camera, the Near-Infrared multi-object Spectrograph, and the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph will cover the wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns, while the Mid-Infrared Instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5 to 28.5 microns. The observatory is confirmed for launch in 2018; the design is complete and it is in its construction and test phase. Recent progress includes the completion of the mirrors and the flight instruments and the start of cryogenic testing.
Host: UW Astronomy Department
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