- April 23, 2024
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By: The Museum of Arts and Sciences
The Museum of Arts and Sciences has joined hundreds of sites across the country to celebrate the release of the first science images from the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s next great space science observatory.
Webb is the largest and most complex space science telescope ever built — the premier observatory of the next decade. This international mission, led by NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, launched December 25, 2021. After unfolding in space into its final form, Webb successfully arrived at its destination nearly 1 million miles from Earth and began preparing for science operations.
The observatory, which is designed to see the universe in the infrared, will push the field of astronomy into a new era. Webb will be able to study light from distant parts of the universe for the very first time — the first galaxies that formed over 13.5 billion years ago — and give us an insight into how our universe formed. It will also peer into dusty stellar nurseries to explore distant worlds orbiting other stars, as well as observe objects in our own solar system. Webb will extend the scientific discoveries of other NASA missions like the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.
The first color images from Webb will be released during a televised broadcast beginning on 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 12, from NASA’s Goddard Space Telescope Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
As a member of the NASA Solar System Ambassadors program, a public engagement effort that works with volunteers across the nation to communicate the science and excitement of NASA’s space exploration missions and discoveries with people in their communities, MOAS Planetarium Coordinator, Jason Schreiner was invited to apply for MOAS to become an event host. The museum was one of around 20 organizations that were selected throughout the state of Florida and one of around 500 throughout the United States.
MOAS invites the community to experience this monumental day in astronomy at the Museum as we celebrate the first released images on Saturday, July 16 from 2-5 p.m. Join MOAS Curator of Astronomy, Seth Mayo in the Lohman Planetarium for a special planetarium show called “Unfolding the Universe with the JWST” as we explore the James Webb Space Telescope and how it will revolutionize our understanding of the Universe. At 3:30 p.m. we will be live streaming the NASA Expert Panel Discussion where they will discuss the first images and answer live questions.
Admission to the 2 p.m. planetarium show and the 3:30 p.m. NASA Panel Discussion live stream is included with museum admission and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating in the planetarium is limited. Overflow seating for the NASA Panel Discussion live stream will be available in the Root Family Auditorium.
To learn more about the Webb telescope, visit webb.nasa.gov and webbtelescope.org.
