 |  | | | | NASA and STSCI Media Telecon: Astrophysics in the Next Decade
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09.13.07
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GREENBELT, Md. - The next decade of astronomy promises to be the most exciting
era in the history of humankind’s continuing investigations of the cosmos. The
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and NASA invite reporters to a media
telecon to learn about exciting upcoming missions.
Astronomers are anticipating breakthroughs in astrophysics that will be enabled
by a powerful new generation of ground and space-based telescopes: The James
Webb Space Telescope, The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array,
Expanded Very Large Array, the European Extremely Large Telescope, and the
Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope among others.
These great observatories will be trained on profound new frontiers facing
astronomers: the search for habitable planets, the discovery of the first stars
in the universe, the assembly of galaxies over billions of years, and the
history of our solar system.
Astronomers are meeting at the "Astrophysics in the Next Decade" conference in
Tucson, Ariz. September 24-27 to discuss the science investigations planned for
these next generation facilities.
On Tuesday September 25, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MST (4:00 5:00 p.m. EDT)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and the STScI will host a
news media telecon for working press that will be broadcast from the conference
site.
Top experts attending the conference will discuss the kinds of groundbreaking
research they hope to accomplish in the next decade.
Speakers:
• Alan Dressler, the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington:
Overview of Major Observatories Planned for the Next Decade
• Sara Seager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The Search for and
Characterization of Exoplanets
• Avi Loeb, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: The Early Universe and
Reionization Era
• Alice Shapley, Princeton University: The Assembly and Evolution of Galaxies in
the Early Universe
• David Jewett, University of Hawaii: Observations of the Outer Solar System
News media wishing to register for the telecon can e-mail or call: Ray Villard,
News Chief/Public Affairs Manager, STScI, Tel. 410-338-4514, villard@stsci.edu;
or Rob Gutro, Public Affairs Specialist, NASA Goddard, Tel. 301-286-4044,
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov.
Related Links:
+ Conference info
+ James Webb Space Telescope
Robert Gutro
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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