Know Wonder – The James Webb Space Telescope

What can we learn about the universe from the JWST?

This is an in-person program. Masks are recommended at all in-person library events.

Launched on December 25th of 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope will usher in a new era in cosmology and astronomy. The JWST was designed to conduct near infrared astronomy to see old and distant objects better than Hubble, with hopes that it will help us better understand the formation of stars, planets and galaxies. In this talk, Dr. Wendi Wampler will outline the design of the telescope, the data it will collect, and what kinds of new insights it will help us understand about the universe.

Dr. Wendi Wampler is an Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering at Central Oregon Community College. She graduated from Purdue with a degree in chemical engineering in 2004. Dr. Wampler returned to Purdue to get her bachelors and then doctorate in physics, with a research focus in physics education in 2013. Since then, she has been teaching algebra and calculus based physics courses at the community college level, where she enjoys the instructional freedom, small class sizes, and working with non-traditional students.