Diving through exoplanet atmospheres with JWST
Family Christmas Lecture
About
JWST is the largest telescope ever sent into space, a 6.5-meter gold-plated honeycomb of mirrors reflects the universe in the infrared to observe the first stars, galaxies, and reveal the environment of distant planets. In the short time since JWST began science operations in 2022, it has caused a paradigm shift in the information and understanding of planetary atmospheres. For the first time we are able to measure the full chemical inventory of these strange new worlds, including revealing the composition of their exotic clouds made of nanocrystals of quartz, allowing us to work out what their climate and environments are like. I will present a spectacular series of data and exploration from community-wide efforts.
This event is taking pace in room CB2.6.
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Continuing Professional Development
This event can contribute towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours as part of the IET's CPD monitoring scheme.
10 Dec 2024
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Organiser
- Somerset and West Wiltshire Local Network
Speakers
Dr Hannah Wakeford
Associate Professor in Astrophysics - University of Bristol
Dr Hannah Wakeford is an Associate Professor in Astrophysics at the University of Bristol, UK where she leads a group studying the atmospheres of exoplanets, planets beyond our solar system. Hannah did an undergraduate in Physics with Planetary and Space Science before completing her PhD in the study of exoplanets. Prior to working at Bristol she held Postdoctoral Fellowships at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. Hannah works with data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the newly launched JWST to explore the environment on alien worlds through measurements of their exotic clouds. Hannah is also an accomplished science communicator as author of the popular science book Bang!! The Complete History of the Universe, and host of Exocast: The Exoplanet Podcast.
Programme
6:30-7:00pm registration, refreshments and networking
7:00pm lecture followed by Q&A