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The James Webb Space Telescope took three decades from conception to launch but the wait has been worth it. The results of the most anticipated telescope of the 21st century have been nothing short of spectacular.
The idea for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was first raised in 1989, well before the enormously successful Hubble Space Telescope was launched. The infrared telescope with a mirror larger than four meters was launched on Christmas Day 2021.
In the summer of 2022, NASA released the first scientific images from Webb to the amazement of more than 300,000 viewers who watched the event live, and hundreds of millions around the world who have viewed Webb's images since then.
Webb's Cosmos is written in the spirit of Terry Dickinson's enormously popular book
Hubble's Universe, which has sold over 100,000 copies. This book contains both the classic Webb images that have already become famous and the latest images from the frontiers of science taken by Webb, some of which appear here for the first time.
Author Marcin Sawicki is a professional astronomer who is an active user of Webb's images and data. He brings a wealth of knowledge and personal experience to the book and explains the science behind the images in accurate but accessible and engaging language.
Webb's Cosmos first provides the needed historical and scientific background to understand how the telescope works and what it can do. The book then presents a curated selection of some 200 photographs with descriptive captions that narrate these images of the distant universe. Chapters include:
- Stars and gas clouds
- Galaxies both near and far
- Planets and our solar system
- Exoplanets.
About the author
Marcin Sawicki is a professional research astronomer who has been involved with the James Webb Space Telescope Project for more than two decades and is now extensively using Webb for research. He is the co-author of 20 research papers based on data taken with Webb. A professional educator and experienced science communicator, Sawicki is Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Saint Mary's University and has held prestigious appointments: Canada Research Chair, Canadian Space Agency Science Fellow and Plaskett Fellow.
