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. Anne Arundel Community College will offer a range of public programs to bring the excitement of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) to audiences of all ages.
“We are excited that Anne Arundel Community College is an official host site for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope community events celebrating Webb’s first science images, and to mark the start of a new chapter in understanding our universe,” said Deborah Levine, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Astronomy.
Event co-host, local Solar System Ambassador Daryl Cooke, added “We are thrilled to help our community celebrate this amazing feat of science and engineering. People of all ages and backgrounds will find inspiration in Webb’s new view of the cosmos, which will fundamentally change our understanding of the universe for this generation and many to come.”
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 on 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 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 Anne Arundel Community College in the new Health and Life Sciences Building’s auditorium (HLSB 100), on Tuesday, July 12 from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm to view the very first images released from the James Webb Telescope. There will be a short introduction to infrared light and infrared astronomy in addition to a live webinar with expert scientists as well as a question-and-answer session. The session is free and open to the public. A star party will be held afterward where the public can view celestial objects at the campus observatory, weather permitting.
Anne Arundel Community College is located at 101 College Parkway, Arnold, MD 21012.
To learn more about the Webb telescope, visit webb.nasa.gov and webbtelescope.org
