Anne Arundel Community College 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 on Tuesday evening, July 12.
AACC will offer a range of public programs to bring the excitement of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) to audiences of all ages.
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 Dec. 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 and give 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 event will be held at AACC’s new Health and Life Sciences Building’s auditorium, on Tuesday, July 12, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. to view the very first images released from the Telescope. The session is free and open to the public. It will include a short introduction to infrared light and infrared astronomy and will be participating in a live webinar with expert scientists as well as a question-and-answer session.