Transcript Exploring the Universe and Our Origins - from Hubble to JWST!

Exploring the Universe and
Our Origins
Dr. Tracy L. Beck
The Nature of Light…
Why We go to space - Earth’s
Atmospheric Transmission!
X Rays
Gamma
Rays
Radio
UltraViolet
InfraRed
Where Hubble
works
Many kinds
Of light are
Blocked by
earth’s
Atmosphere
!
Why we go to space Hubble vs. ground-based
telescopes - image quality!
Twinkle, twinkle little star…!
Air in the earth’s atmosphere causes
astronomical images to be blurry!
Subaru Observatory (~27ft!)
HST
We
The NEW and
Improved Hubble!!
Gas flowing away
from a dying star!
Galaxy
Cluster
Ultraviolet
Dense
Wide Field
gas lit by
Camera 3 (WFC3)
nearby stars!
Spiral Galaxy
Infrared
Advanced Camera for
Surveys (ACS)
After SM4 in May 2009 we have
2 new instruments! 2 Fixed Instruments!
Hubble Space Telescope the single most productive
and popular Astronomical
Tool… EVER!
HAPPY 20th
Anniversary,
HUBBLE!
Launched April 24,
1990
The James Webb
Space Telescope
(JWST)
Scheduled for launch in 2014, JWST is the
successor to Hubble - (there’s NO
REPLACING it!)
Goal of JWST - Continue the spirit of
Hubble to explore our universe, from
understanding comets and planets in
our own solar system, to the most
distant stars and galaxies in our
universe…
Who was James
Webb?
He was the Second NASA Administrator,
from 1961 to 1968.
James E. Webb
Organized and Oversaw the first manned space
missions in the Mercury and Gemini programs
Had the foresight and knowledge to push for robotic
missions, searching the moon and paving the way
for all future remote studies of Venus, Mars and
more recently Jupiter, Saturn… etc…
He did more for organized space science research
than any other person in the US ever has!
The James Webb
Space
Telescope…
Sun Shield =
size of a
Tennis Court!
Life-Size Model @ GSFC
Telescope
Primary
Mirror
Sun Shield
Telescope
Secondary
Mirror
How is JWST different? the telescope size!
Learn more at
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
Photograph of Hubble
How is JWST
different? - the
telescope
LOCATION!
The Hubble Space telescope orbits around earth at a height
of ~350 miles! This is so the astronauts can reach Hubble,
and fix it or upgrade it, if needed!
In the infrared, we want much
darker skies with no earthshine
or moonshine to compete with so JWST is going to orbit at the
sun-earth “Lagrange - 2” point roughly 930,000 miles away!
Learn more at http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
Artist Drawing of JWST
!
What’s a “Langrange”
point, and why
“Lagrange Point” should we put our very stable orbit
point where gravity
orbital
telescope out there? and
energies are
Earth
Sun
JWST
@ L2
perfectly balanced!
There are 5 Lpoints, JWST is
going to “L2”
Not much
spacecraft fuel is
needed to keep
JWST in orbit here!
Far away from
earth = very dark
sky!
Learn more at http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
How is JWST Different INFRARED!
Many wavelengths of infrared light sampled by
JWST can’t be seen by Hubble or on the ground!
Learn more at http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
How is JWST Different INFRARED!
Visible light
Infrared light
Some infrared light measures the
HEAT from an object! (the warm
dog has a cold nose!)
How is JWST Different INFRARED!
Light at
some
Infrared
wavelengths
can pierce
through
clouds of
dust… view
in visible
light is not
the same as
IR!
The REAL Driver for JWST
is the SCIENCE! 4 Key Goals
for JWST!
1) The
formation of
star and planet
systems
3) The
formation of
galaxies and
large structures
in our universe
2) Extra-solar
planets and the
origin of life in
our Universe
4) The first
stars and the
origin of our
Universe!
Star and Planet Formation
Animation of Star+Planet Formation
Large Cloud of Gas and Dust,
imaged by HST+WFC3
Clouds of gas and dust collapse due to gravity
form a flattened circumstellar “disk”
planets coalesce out of dust and gas in the
disk
Animation courtesy of M. Ressler, JPL
Fomalhaut - an outer ring of
dust… indicative of planet
formation?
Ring of Dust
Light from the
Young Star is
blocked and
subtracted off
ACS Images
Simulated JWST Image
Fomalhaut B!?
Kalas et al. (2008)
Holy cow! Is that a planet!?
JWST will be able to image and study wide extent
planets, as in the planet in the Fomalhaut system!
Extra-solar Planets and the
Origin of LIFE in the
Universe!
In 1995 - the very first two strong candidate exoplanets were discovered!
Today, 15 years later, 429 exoplanets are known!
41 multiple planet systems!
New planets are Discovered ALL THE TIME!
What was science fiction a mere 15 years ago, is
reality today !
One of the most rapidly growing and highest
profile realms of study in modern Astronomy!
JWST can have a HUGE Impact here!
See more at http://webbtelescope.org
How are exoplanets
detected?
1) Direct Imaging (as in the HST
images of Fomalhaut)
2) Planet passes in front of it’s
star (transit, or eclipsing planets)
3) Radial Velocity Searches
4) Microlensing
(see more info at Exoplanets.org)
Main methods for exo-planet detection with JWST!
What is a Transiting, or
Eclipsing Exoplanet?
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video 3 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Animation from the HST SWEEPS Project Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Exo-Planet Survey!
What is a Transiting, or
Eclipsing Exoplanet?
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Animation from the HST SWEEPS Project - Sagittarius
Window Eclipsing Exo-Planet Survey!
How can we find an
Earth-like Planet?
O Type = Brightest
stars
Sun!
It’s easiest to
try to find Earthlike planets
around the
faintest stars!
M Type = Faintest
Stars
Planet atmosphere
JWST will aggressively seek to study earth-like
planets as they pass in front of their “M star”
hosts - by measuring starlight that passes
through the atmosphere of the planet!
Our sphere of search for
planets is just a small area
of the Milky Way!
The Milky Way galaxy is
a BIG place… the
universe is a huge
place…!
Key question for JWST How common are
earth-like planets?
Our Milky Way Galaxy!
The Milky way & Galaxies
Galaxies - BIG Huge
conglomerations of
stars - Milky Way
is >200,000,000
stars!
We are here!
Artist Image of our Milky Way Galaxy
Hubble Space Telescope
Images of Galaxies…
Spiral Galaxies
It’s believed that some of
the galaxies that we see
today formed by merging
of two different galaxies
at some time in the past!
Elliptical Galaxies
Merging
Galaxies
Test your Galaxy Classification skills! & Help
Astronomers! @ www.galaxyzoo.org!
Distance in Astronomy
Light takes time to travel… so looking at
objects that are further and further away
means that we are looking backwards in
time! This is because light travels at a
fixed speed - the speed of light!
Distance from…
Sun to Earth
8.3 light minutes
Sun to Proxima Centauri
4.26 light years
Sun to the center of the Milky Way
26,000 light years
Sun to the Andromeda Galaxy
2.5 Million light years!!!
The Hubble Ultra Deep
Field!
WOW!
Some of the faint
fuzzy blobs in this
picture are the most
distant galaxies
known in our
universe - 13
BILLION light-years
away!
Total Exposure time = 11. 3 days!!
The JWST Ultra Deep
Field!
Astronomer
simulation of what
the comparable
JWST deep field
will look like!
How deep will we
see?
Will JWST Detect the First Stars Ever
Formed in Our Universe?
HST Image - 30 hrs
JWST Simulation
- 17 mins
Comparison of the Hubble deep field (left) to JWST
deep field (right).
We Hope to Know in
~2014!
The James
Webb Space
Telescope!
From planets to the most distant galaxies, this
Infrared optimized observatory scheduled for
launch
in
2014
will
revolutionize
our
Thanks for your
attention!
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
JWST Deploying in 2014!!
We
Eruption from a dying star!
Cluster of Stars!
Glowing gas lit by massive stars!
Hubble!!
Gas flowing away from
a dying star!
Pillars of dense gas lit by
nearby stars!