The James Webb Telescope and Stamford’s New Planetarium

The James Webb Telescope and Stamford’s New Planetarium
Presented by Charles Eder
Director, Stamford Museum Planetarium and Astronomy Center
Lapham Center, Waveny Park, 633 South Avenue, New Canaan CT

The groundbreaking James Webb Telescope was launched into orbit on Christmas Day, December 25th, 2021. On July 12, 2022, the first image from the James Webb Telescope known as Webb's Deep Field captured with remarkable clarity Galaxy Cluster SMACS 0723 approximately 4.6 billion light years away. It revealed thousands of galaxies in unprecedented depth and detail.

Since then, the James Webb has continued to provide images and data from further into space than ever before, using infrared light to see through clouds of gas and dust which previously were a major obstacle for astronomers. The newest discovery of the farthest galaxy we have found is only 280 million years after the Big Bang which is generally thought to have occurred 13.7 billion years ago.

The James Webb is also providing new information in the study of the possibility for life on Exoplanets,(planets in other Solar Systems), because the light from an exoplanet's star passes through the planet's atmosphere allowing astrophysicists to look for biosignatures in the gases of the planet's atmosphere.

Director Eder will also tell us about the brand new 11,000 square foot facility which will be open to the general public starting November 19th, 2025. The New Planetarium will feature a large 40 foot dome and a theatre which will seat 96 people and will present both live and prerecorded shows. It will also have a full scale model of our Solar System with the sun at 3/4 of an inch, Earth's orbit at a radius of 6.4 feet and Neptune's orbit at a radius of 194.4 feet!

Many thanks to Ken Hecht for organizing this! Hope many of you can attend.