Beyond Hubble: A New Era in Astrophysics With NASA's James Webb Space Telescope

Amber Straughn, associate director of the Astrophysics Science Division of NASA will present "Beyond Hubble: A New Era in Astrophysics with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope" at 4 p.m. today, Friday, Oct. 14, in the Paul Sharrah Lecture Hall, PHYS 133. Refreshments for Straughn will be at 3:30 pm in PHYS 134.

Abstract:

For over a quarter century, the Hubble Space Telescope has been revealing the unknown cosmos; this single scientific instrument has completely revolutionized our understanding of the universe. In 2009, the complete refurbishment of Hubble gave new life to the telescope and has produced groundbreaking science results, revealing some of the most distant galaxies ever discovered. Despite the remarkable advances in astronomy that Hubble has provided, the new questions that have arisen demand a new space telescope with new technologies and capabilities. I will provide an update on the progress of the James Webb Space Telescope—launching in 2018, overview the science goals and instrument capabilities, and present the timeline for proposals, which is quickly approaching.

Amber Straughn is an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and serves as the deputy project scientist for James Webb Space Telescope Science Communications. She is also the associate director of the Astrophysics Science Division. Follow her on Twitter: @astraughnomer. 

Straughn's research focuses on interacting and star-forming galaxies in the context of galaxy assembly, where she uses imaging and infrared spectroscopic data mostly from the Hubble Space Telescope. Her broad research interests include galaxy formation and evolution, galaxy mergers and interactions, physical processes induced by galaxy interactions including star formation and black hole growth, and emission-line galaxies.

In addition to research, Straughn's role with the JWST project science team involves working with communications and outreach activities. She is an experienced public speaker, with audiences ranging from small local classrooms to audiences of 2200+ at events such as Comic Con and the World Science Festival. Straughn also interacts frequently with the media, having done numerous live television interviews, media features for NASA, and has appeared in documentaries on PBS NOVA, the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel, National Geographic, Spike TV, and in the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's "Hubble Gotchu" segment. She's done short interviews with CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera America, The Atlantic, and other local media outlets. She very much enjoys telling NASA's science stories.