Finding our Origins with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes

NASA is planning a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope designed to study the origins of galaxies, stars, planets and life in the universe. In this talk, Dr. Gardner will discuss the origin and evolution of galaxies, beginning with the Big Bang and tracing what we have learned with Hubble through to the present day. He will show that results from studies with Hubble have led to plans for its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb is scheduled to launch in 2014, and is designed to find the first galaxies that formed in the distant past and to penetrate the dusty clouds of gas where stars are still forming today. He will compare Webb to Hubble, and discuss recent progress in the construction of the observatory.