Vancouver astronomer gains access to prestigious James Webb Space Telescope for research
CTV
Since the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched in December 2021, researchers across North America and Europe have been vying for access to it. It took years and a series of failures for Dr. Jeremy Heyl to get his turn.
It took years and a series of failures before Dr. Jeremy Heyl gained access to space exploration's holy grail.
"We had applied for a bunch of different programs, maybe five or six different ones, and this was the only one that was successful," said Heyl, a professor of physics and astronomy at UBC.
Since the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched in December 2021, researchers across North America and Europe have been vying for access to it.
"We received over seven times more requests than we have time for," said Nathalie Ouellette, outreach scientist with JWST Canada.
"So, it's seven to one odds on if someone will get time on it or not."
The $10 billion JWST is considered revolutionary. It can capture images of stars that are thousands of light-years away.
Heyl's project involves observing stars and galaxies approximately 12,000 light-years away and searching for ancient planetary systems.
