After decades of development the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched on Christmas Day 2021. In the five years since, discoveries from the mission are transforming our understanding of the universe - from curious “little red dots” to the atmospheres of planets beyond our Solar System. In recognition of the many hundreds of people who developed the observatory, the talk will start with a short overview of the technical challenges in bringing the observatory into successful operation. It will then celebrate highlights of the exciting science JWST has achieved over the past half-decade. These discoveries raise new questions that scientists will address, using not only JWST but a number of new missions and observatories that are under construction and being planned.
Speaker Biography
Professor Gillian Wright, CBE, FRSE, is the recently retired Director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh and a visiting professor of the Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh. She is European Principal Investigator of the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on JWST, leading the European consortium that developed the instrument in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Arizona. Professor Wright was Director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre from 2012 to 2024. In this role she led the organisation in instrumentation and technology development for the European Southern Observatory, Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the LISA mission, and the Square Kilometer Array. In 2023 Professor Wright was awarded a CBE for Services to Astronomy and has served on many national and international advisory panels for astronomy, space science and astronomical instrumentation.
Accessibility information
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