43 | 43 | || '''30.05.2022''' || '''Silvia Scheithauer''' || '''The James Webb Space Telescope: A New Look into the Depths of the Universe'''[[BR]][[BR]]On December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched into space on an Ariane rocket from Europe's Korou Spaceport in French Guiana.[[BR]][[BR]]JWST is the largest observatory ever sent into space and is an international collaboration of the U.S., European and Canadian space agencies NASA, ESA and CSA. It carries four scientific instruments designed to unlock more secrets from the universe: With JWST, we will be able to look farther into the past than ever before and observe the first galaxies, we will learn more about the birth of stars and planets, and we will be able to study planets outside our own solar system.[[BR]][[BR]]The technology of the satellite itself is unique and a masterpiece of engineering. For example, the observatory - which is the size of a tennis court - had to be folded up for launch on the Ariane 5 rocket and then unfolded again fully automatically in space. Development of JWST began back in 1996, construction itself in 2004, with the four instruments ready between 2012 and 2013 and the entire satellite in 2021.[[BR]][[BR]]In this talk, I will give an overview of the fascinating history of JWST: From the idea to the construction and test, to the launch and the currently ongoing commissioning phase.[[BR]][[BR]]Presentation: German[[BR]][https://svn.mpia.de/trac/gulli/att/raw-attachment/wiki/WikiStart/JWST_May2022.pdf Slides: English][[BR]]Questions: German, English || |
45 | 45 | || '''13.06.2022''' || '''Aline Dinkelaker (AIP)''' || '''Astrophotonics: Bringing Integrated Photonic Components to the Telescope [[BR]][[BR]]'''Anlogous to electronics, photonics is a technology, based on photons interacting with matter, that has become a game-changer around the globe. Waveguides in optical fibers and photonic integrated circuits (PIC) have become an immensely successful innovation. Photonic components offer enormous potential for astronomical instrumentation, as they can reduce the amount of bulky, heavy free-space optics and pave the way for innovative solutions. Such astrophotonic devices are already integrated in high-end instruments, leading to groundbreaking discoveries, e.g. the study of the supermassive Black Hole in our Milky Way using GRAVITY at the VLT (Nobel Prize for Physics 2020). With the ongoing development of novel manufacturing methods and designs, the field of astrophotonics continues to grow.[[BR]][[BR]]At the innovation center innoFSPEC Potsdam, photonic solutions are developed for applications along the signal chain of optical/NIR telescopes, e.g. fiber-based OH-suppression filters (potentially for ELT-MOS/MOSAIC), frequency combs (for STELLA), a PIC-based spectrograph (PAWS), or interferometric beam combiners, also based on PIC (for CHARA). After design, manufacture, and initial laboratory characterization, such components are being prepared for on-sky tests, to validate them for use in real instruments. I will give a brief overview of the astrophotonic research activities at AIP and highlight our current work on beam combiners for stellar interferometry.[[BR]][[BR]]Presentation: German[[BR]]Slides: English[[BR]]Questions: German, English || |