University of Florida: UF scientists probe the cosmos with the new James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas Day, 2021, and the instrument was so complex that it took months for us to peer through the new telescope. Then in July of 2022 we got our first look at images from the most advanced space observatory ever made. The telescope’s data will transform how we understand our universe, and University of Florida astronomers and physicists are on the vanguard of these discoveries.

Here are six projects that will help answer enduring questions about the universe: how did everything we see come to be; how did Earth and the planets come together; and are we alone in the cosmos — or is there life out there waiting to be discovered?

Anthony Gonzalez and Desika Narayanan: Galactic evolution
Jaehan Bae: Baby planets
Katia Matcheva: Signs of life
Adam Ginsburg: Unsolved riddles
Imre Bartos: Heavy metal
Laura Blecha: Supermassive