Webb Space Telescope
“First Images” Community Event
Friday, July 29
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Free event for all ages!
Celebrate the release of Webb’s spectacular first full-color images and spectroscopic data, which were released on July 12, during an open house at the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University! Join us for this official NASA Webb Community Event with free-choice learning activities and giveaways for everyone:
Do hands-on activities with NASA Solar System Ambassadors, and ask them your questions about the Universe.
Take, create, and share amazing space images, and delve into astro imaging technologies with the Observing With NASA Kiosk.
Learn about Webb’s first images through a Q&A with local expert Dr. Kathryn Flanagan, Astronomer Emerita at the Space Telescope Science Institute and former Webb mission head.
Watch a full-dome planetarium show about exoplanets, planets outside our solar system.
Explore our night sky by stargazing with telescopes.
Travel through time and space via the Framingham Public Library’s green screen photobooth.
This event is in partnership with Framingham Public Library as part of their "Read Beyond the Beaten Path” Summer Reading initiative. Learn more at: framinghamlibrary.org/sr
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
Schedule
6:00-7:30PM:
Outside: Hands-On Activities with NASA Solar System Ambassadors
Inside: Observing With NASA Kiosk and Photobooth
7:30-8:15PM:
Inside: Webb First Images Presentation and Q&A with Kathy Flanagan
8:30-9:00PM:
Outside: Stargazing with Telescopes
Inside: Undiscovered Worlds in the Planetarium
About Webb
Webb is the largest astrophysics mission in NASA's history. With a segmented mirror extending 6 meters across, and a sunshield the size of a tennis court, this mammoth observatory had to be folded for its launch on December 25, 2021 and unfurled as it travelled to its final orbit a million miles away.
Webb was designed to see the first galaxies forming shortly after the Big Bang, and has been nicknamed the “First Light Machine." Its infrared sensitivity allows it to peer into dusty environments, making it the perfect instrument to explore the regions where stars and planets form, and to trace how galaxies have evolved over time.
Webb's potential is so transformative for astronomy that three international space agencies – NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency – partnered together to bring it to launch.
Parking
Parking is available in the Maynard Road or Salem End Road Parking Lots. Once parked, follow the signs to the McAuliffe Center and FSU Planetarium.
Important Information
Given the ongoing concerns of COVID-19 and the safety of our students, staff, and guests, we require that you comply with the following protocols while visiting Framingham State University:
