Inspired by watching the brilliant stars visible in the dark night sky above her father’s watermelon farm in Bee Branch, Amber Straughn came to the U of A determined to study astronomy. 

Straughn, now an astrophysicist, is still looking at the stars, but she’s privy to some of the closest and most detailed views. In her role as deputy project scientist for communications, Straughn helps to guide work on NASA’s biggest and most powerful telescope yet, the James Webb Space Telescope. 

To celebrate the telescope’s groundbreaking anniversary, NASA released new breathtaking images and featured the Honors College alumna in media interviews. 

A YEAR OF GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE

The subject of the new image is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth, and the strength of the Webb telescope “displays star birth like it’s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture,” NASA said in a release.

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. (Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI))

The James Webb Space Telescope was designed to complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb has longer wavelength coverage and improved sensitivity, allowing scientists to “look much closer to the beginning of time and hunt for the unobserved formation of the first galaxies.” In the past year, NASA has learned more about the universe than ever before, both in our solar system and beyond. 

From its first released image, the Webb has continued to show us an unparalleled window into the universe, and it has also confirmed the distances of faraway galaxies and discovered the earliest supermassive black holes. 

ABOUT STRAUGHN 

During Straughn’s time at the U of A, she pursued honors studies in the Department of Physics in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. 

After completing a Bachelor of Science degree in physics, magna cum laude, in 2002, Straughn earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in physics at Arizona State, where she was supported by NASA’s Harriett Jenkins Fellowship. A post-doc fellowship at NASA led to her being hired as a civil servant astrophysicist.

Today, Straughn is deputy project scientist for James Webb Space Telescope Science Communications and associate director for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Astrophysics Science Division. She is an experienced public speaker, with audiences ranging from small groups of students to more than 2,000 people at events such as Comic Con and the World Science Festival. She has appeared on documentaries on the Discovery Channel, PBS NOVA, the Science Channel, Spike TV, the History Channel, National Geographic and on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She’s also done interviews with CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera America, The Atlantic and other media outlets.

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