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SUMMARY:The quest for the first stars and first black holes with the James
  Webb Space Telescope - Professor Roberto Maiolino FRS\, Professor of Expe
 rimental Astrophysics\, Kavli Institute for Cosmology
DTSTART:20240226T180000Z
DTEND:20240226T190000Z
UID:TALK205336@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Beverley Larner
DESCRIPTION:Finding and understanding the nature of the first stars at cos
 mic dawn is one of the most important and most ambitious goals for modern 
 astrophysics. The first populations of stars produced the first chemical e
 lements heavier than helium and formed the first\, small protogalaxies\, w
 hich then evolved\, across the cosmic epoch\, into the large and mature ga
 laxies\, such as the Milky Way and those in our local neighbour. Equally i
 mportant and equally challenging is the search\, in the early Universe\, o
 f the seeds of the first population of black holes\, which later evolved i
 n the supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies\, with masses eve
 n exceeding a billion times the mass of the Sun. When matter accretes on s
 uch supermassive black holes it can become so luminous to vastly outshine 
 the light emitted by all stars in their host galaxy.\n\nSince its launch\,
  about two years ago\, the James Webb Space Telescope has been revolutioni
 zing this area of research. Its sensitivity in detecting infrared light fr
 om the remotest parts of the Universe is orders of magnitude higher than a
 ny previous observatory\, an historical leap in astronomy and\, more broad
 ly\, in science. I will presents some of the first\, extraordinary discove
 ries from the Webb telescope\, which have resulted in several unexpected f
 indings. I will also discuss the new puzzles and areas of investigation th
 at have been opened by Webb’s observations\, how these challenge theoret
 ical models\, and the prospects of further progress in the coming years.
LOCATION:Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre\, Department of Chemistry
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