Vermont Astronomical Society at Brownell Library

Presented by Neil Perlin

Only three years ago, on December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope launched to tremendous fanfare, non-stop news articles, and presentations packed with scientists and with non-scientists wondering what all the fuss was about. But since then, what? You may have seen some of the spectacular photos from the Webb but they tend to be published with little description – what are we looking at? And what about the scientific research and results, the meat of the mission?

This presentation will summarize where the James Webb stands to date. We’ll look at four aspects:  

The technologies, and why origami is a telescope designer’s friend.

Some of the spectacular pictures from the James Webb and an explanation of what they show.

Some of the scientific results so far, and some of the studies underway now.

And, as cutting edge as the James Webb is, what comes next?