A&S Alumni Academy – From Holden to Webb: Telescopes, Windows on the Heavens

Recently, humanity has been treated to the amazing pictures coming back from the James Webb Space Telescope. Have you wondered why the JWST is better than Hubble? Why put telescopes in space in the first place? What are they good for, and how do they illuminate our place in the cosmos and the origins of the Universe? How and why have telescopes evolved since the days when our own Holden Observatory’s telescope was the best available?

Join Walter Freeman, associate teaching professor, Physics, for this A&S Alumni Academy that will look at the basics of telescopes, how they have evolved since the brass treasure atop Holden Observatory, and how each advance in the design and technology of telescopes has advanced our understanding of the Universe. Explore how to make a telescope the size of Earth; how to take the twinkle out of starlight; how to tease apart the rainbow; and how invisible light can tell us about the chemistry of the stars. And join in to talk with Dr. Freeman about the James Webb Space Telescope and its representation of the most recent advance in humanity’s capability to see the heavens, and what might be next.