A team of Irish scientists from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) have played a key role in developing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is scheduled to launch from the Guiana Space Centre on Wednesday, 22nd December at 12.20pm (IST).
The JWST is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built. Jointly developed by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency it will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA’s Flagship astrophysics mission.
Over the course of its 10-year mission, the telescope will look deeper into space to see the earliest stars and galaxies that formed in the Universe and examine nearby dust clouds to study the formation of stars and planets.
Irish Connection
There are strong Irish connections to the JWST: Professor Tom Ray, Senior Professor and Director of Cosmic Physics at DIAS, is co-Principal Investigator for the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the telescope.
MIRI is a camera and a spectrograph that observes mid to long infrared radiation. It also has a coronagraph (a specialised instrument designed to block out the light of a star), especially for observing exoplanets.
MIRI will be key in enabling the telescope to study the Universe with an unprecedented level of detail.
Dr. Patrick Kavanagh also from DIAS, is a member of the international MIRI team, he will participate in commissioning the instrument at the Webb Mission Operations Centre in Baltimore, early in the new year.
Speaking in advance of the launch, Professor Tom Ray, said: “Irish research has played a vital role in the development of the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope will greatly enhance our knowledge of the Universe.
“The observations the telescope will collect will help scientists answer some of the big questions about the cosmos. Such as, what did the early Universe look like, how did the first galaxies evolve and how and where do stars and planets form?
“It is testament to the platform DIAS holds on the international stage in astronomy and astrophysics that we have such strong Irish involvement in this project.”
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