UT astronomy department taking research to higher level with Webb telescope

May 10—The University of Toledo's physics and astronomy department is abuzz now in anticipation of the world's most powerful telescope being launched into outer space Oct. 31.

There's good reason for that: NASA has chosen an amazing five UT research proposals to be part of the telescope's initial year or so of deep-space viewing and data collection.

One is from a graduate student scheduled to get his doctoral degree this month. He was competing against hundreds of other astronomers, many with 20 or 30 years of experience.

"It's a tremendous validation of what we've been doing to grow and improve our program," said J.D. Smith, a UT astronomy professor who serves as director of the university's Ritter Astrophysical Research Center. "It was honestly better than we ever could have hoped for."

The massive James Webb Space Telescope is by far the largest and most sophisticated device of its kind.

At a cost of $10 billion, it also is the most expensive. It will give mankind its sharpest and most distant images of deep space, with more than 15 times the viewing area of the $4.7 billion Hubble Space Telescope that was placed in Earth's lower orbit in 1990, and with sharper resolution than the infrared, $776 million Spitzer Space Telescope launched in 2003.

Beset by multiple delays, its costs have risen by more than $1 billion since 2018. The latest in its series of scrubbed launch dates was in March, but the plan now is to send it into orbit from French Guiana on Halloween.

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Sometimes called the JWST or simply Webb, the telescope is a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. Much of the imagery it generates will be used by astronomers throughout the world to help better understand the origins of our universe.

"Every time we have a new view of the universe, we discover new things about it we never expected," Mr. Smith said. "I think it is really going to be a game-changer."

Mr. Smith said he was pleased to learn his proposal for researching hydrocarbons was one of those five from UT which NASA selected.

But he said he is even more thrilled the space agency accepted a proposal from one of his graduate students, Thomas Lai, who is to be awarded his Ph.D. this month. Mr. Lai's proposal is to study fine dust particles as far away as 330 million light years for clues about a unique starburst galaxy.

"It's a very important achievement in my career. I'm extremely fortunate to have this opportunity," Mr. Lai said. "I'm also grateful J.D. encouraged me to pursue it."

Also chosen by NASA was research proposed by UT physics and astronomy professors Rupali Chandar, Tom Megeath, and Michael Cushing. Mr. Cushing also serves as UT's Ritter Planetarium director.

"It's pretty amazing and exciting," Ms. Chandar said. "This is the first observing cycle. It's a brand new telescope. It's incredibly difficult to get [viewing] time."

The way it works is this: All astronomers who've had their research projects chosen are notified by the Space Telescope Science Institute, of Baltimore, when their images and data are available for viewing online, initially by them only. The institute is the operations center for Hubble and Webb.

The length of viewing time and other logistics vary.

Ms. Chandar's research involves looking for ways in which galaxies merge, some 60 million light years away.

"Gravity is making them do this big cosmic dance," she said.

With its multiple proposals accepted, UT ended up tied for sixth place for scheduled viewing time.

"For our size [of a physics and astronomy department], it was incredibly exciting," Mr. Smith said.

The space institute said that students lead 8.7 percent of selected proposals.

Mr. Lai is leading an international team of 10 other researchers on a project titled "How Do the Small Survive." They will observe a galaxy called II Zw 40 that is roughly 33 million light years away from Earth and hosts one of the most intensive star-forming regions in the local universe.

From more than 1,000 submitted proposals, NASA selected 286 projects.

The Webb telescope will begin observing the universe in 2022 after the spacecraft unfolds, travels a million miles, and has had its instruments checked.