Eric Smith June 1 Cafe

Post on 26-Jan-2015

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The more we know about the Cosmos the stranger it seems to get. The new Kepler space telescope has detected many new “exoplanet”—planets in other star systems. Some of these planets are quite strange. One has the density of Styrofoam. Another seems to be hotter than the star it revolves around. Kinks in the Kepler telescope’s sensors have been worked around using computers and the ground and it is now providing amazing data from millions of star systems. The refurbished Hubble Space Telescope has now peered more deeply into the past than ever before to almost the dawn of the Universe. In addition, the James Webb Telescope will soon allow us to see even further back in time. Come hear Dr. Eric P. Smith, NASA astrophysicist show and tell us about the Latest and Greatest News from the Cosmos.

Transcript of Eric Smith June 1 Cafe

Space Astronomy News

Eric P. SmithAstrophysics DivisionNASA Headquarters

• March 2009 Kepler Launch

• May 2009 Hubble 5th servicing mission, Herschel and Planck launch

• December 2009 WISE launch

• May 2010 SOFIA first light

2009-2010: A Banner Year

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KeplerGoal: Determine the Frequency of

Earth-like planets

Where: The Cygnus-Lyra direction along the Orion arm of our galaxy.

How far: Design point is the Sun at 273 parsecs (800 light years). Useful stars are between 100 pc (300 l.y.) and 1000 pc (3000 l.y.)

How Kepler Spots Planets

Kepler’s First Planets

Planck Results

Herschel: Life’s Building Blocks

WISE

SOFIA First Light

Hubble Science

Missions in Development

James Webb Space Telescope

Wavelength Coverage: 0.6-28 microns. Primary Mirror diameter: 6.5 metersImaging and Spectroscopy Launch: 2014 Lifetime: 5-10 yearsPartnership with European Space Agency

and Canadian Space Agency

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The Eagle Nebula

as seen in the near-infrared

Visible (HST) Spitzer (24 µm) JWST (20 µm)

Fomalhaut

Galaxies in

GOODS Field

Simulation of the first

stellar clusters at the end of the Cosmic

Dark Age

What are the 1st luminous objects?

What is the nature of the 1st galaxies?

Do galaxy collisions play a role in their evolution?

What is the origin and importance of dark matter in the universe?

How do clouds collapse?

How does environment affect star and planetary formation?

How do planets form?

What is the nature and evolutionary timescale of debris disks?

How are habitable zones established?

First Light

Galaxy

Assembly

Birthplace of

Stars

Planets and

Life

James Webb Space Telescope Science Goals

How is Webb Different?

Full Scale Model in NYC

Science Instruments

Fine Guidance Sensor Mid-Infrared Instrument

Near Infrared Spectrometer Near Infrared Camera

International Missions

Plato Euclid SPICA

International X-ray Observatory

How do supermassive black holes grow? Does this change over cosmic time?

How does galaxy cluster evolution constrain the nature of dark matter and dark energy?

How are particles accelerated to extreme energies producing shocks, jets and cosmic rays?

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

First New Window on the Universe in ~50 years