Join Standley Lake Stargazing for a special presentation from Dr. Gregory Wirth, a scientist and engineer currently working on the James Webb Space Telescope!
After decades of keen anticipation, astronomers worldwide were thrilled to see the powerful new James Webb Space Telescope successfully launched into space on Christmas Day. JWST’s giant primary mirrors – the largest ever deployed in orbit – were delicately folded up to fit into the rocket, were successfully deployed in January, and are now being aligned to incredible accuracy to deliver spectacular infrared images to earth. Ball Aerospace has been responsible for the design, construction, and deployment of the optics on the telescope and will continue working with NASA to refine the optics before handing the system over to astronomers this summer. This talk will describe the impressive technological advances that enabled NASA to build this telescope, share the process Ball’s engineers are currently applying to focus the mirrors, and preview the stunning science that JWST promises to deliver.
Dr. Gregory Wirth is a Principal Systems Engineer at Boulder-based Ball Aerospace. Even though clear nights were a rarity growing up in cloudy and light-polluted central Michigan, Greg was smitten with the stars once he finally managed to identify the Little Dipper. He majored in Physics, Astronomy, & Applied Math at Northwestern before heading west to earn his doctorate in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Prior to joining Ball in 2018, Greg spent sixteen delightful years as a Support Astronomer at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and later served as the Commissioning Scientist for the Boulder-based National Ecological Observatory Network. At Ball, he has supported the Roman Space Telescope program and currently commutes between Boulder and Baltimore to assist in commissioning the optical systems on the James Webb Space Telescope. On the side, he studies distant clusters of galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck, and enjoys cycling the back roads of Boulder county to conduct extensive field research comparing different types of pie.
Free virtual event. Families welcome. Hosted by Standley Lake Stargazing
To register for this event click here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwqceugrDgiHtQ4dppj34vHs6ZJvDMFI4LB
(Note: One-time registration required, after which you’ll have access to all future programs!)
Send questions to Contact@StandleyLakeStargazing.com
Learn more at www.StandleyLakeStargazing.com/programs