June 28, 2022
Media Advisory: UArizona astronomer to participate in Webb Telescope media briefing tomorrow
- What: NASA media briefing and Q&A on the James Webb Space Telescope's commissioning status, planned science during the telescope's first year of operation and image processing.
- When: Wednesday, June 29, 7 a.m. (PT)
- Where: Join by phone by completing this form. Audio from the briefing will be livestreamed on NASA Live.
- RSVP: Media must register by 12 p.m. (PT) today, June 28, to participate virtually.
TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona assistant research professor of astronomy Kevin Hainline, a member of the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera, or NIRCam, science team will join other Webb scientists and engineers on a panel to discuss the status of Webb's commissioning as well as planned science for Webb's first year of operations and Webb image processing.
The media briefing and Q&A are part of a larger media day that NASA is hosting at the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of Webb's mission operations center.
The briefing and media day come ahead of the release of Webb's first full-color images and spectroscopic data. The images will be released during a televised broadcast at 7:30 a.m. (PT) on July 12 from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. More information is to come.
Released one by one, these first images from the world's largest and most powerful space telescope will demonstrate Webb at its full power, ready to begin its mission to unfold the infrared universe.
Each image will simultaneously be made available on social media and on the agency's website. Embargoed access to Webb's first images will not be available prior to their public release.
Webb launched Dec. 25 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. After unfolding into its final form in space and successfully reaching its destination 1 million miles from Earth, the observatory is now wrapping up the months-long process of preparing for science operations.
Webb will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe and everything in between. Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it.
Additional Webb Resources:
- UArizona digital assets
- UArizona Webb mission website
- NASA digital assets
- Image and video galleries
- NASA Webb mission website
Media contact:
Mikayla Mace Kelley
University Communications
520-621-1878
mikaylamace@arizona.edu
The University of Arizona, a land-grant university with two independently accredited medical schools, is one of the nation's top 50 public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as a student-centric university and has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. The university ranked in the top 20 in 2020 in research expenditures among all public universities, according to the National Science Foundation, and is a leading Research 1 institution with $761 million in annual research expenditures. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 66 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually. For the latest on the University of Arizona response to the novel coronavirus, visit the university's COVID-19 webpage.