The James Webb Telescope seen by an astrophysicist Beauceron

On July 11, in front of the entire planet, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, revealed the first official images of the James Webb Space Telescope. Among the earthlings most interested in this historical moment, Beauceron eagerly awaited this day. Claude-Andre Faucher-Geiger is an associate professor at Northwestern University, a suburb of Chicago..

The James Webb Telescope, after more than 25 years of waiting, finally eclipsed its predecessor, Hubble. More efficient and more accurate, this technological device was designed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) at a cost of US$10 billion. “The telescope shows us images of the beginning, after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago,” said Mr. Foucher Geiger.

This space telescope is located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, and has four main tasks: to discover the light of the first galaxies after the Big Bang, to study their formation and evolution, to better understand the birth of stars and to learn more about exoplanets (exoplanets). our solar system). Moreover, he will be able to determine what elements these planets are made of and find out if life forms are possible there.

Astrophysicist Beauceron

Claude-Andre Faucher-Geiger was originally from Saint Aurelie and had been teaching at Northwestern University in Illinois for nearly nine years. He holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree in Astronomy from Harvard University (USA), one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics from McGill University (Canada). Mr. Faucher Geiger did his undergraduate studies at the Cégep Beauce-Appalaches in Saint-Georges.

His academic research focuses on studying the formation of galaxies since the origin of the universe, by modeling their evolution, from the Big Bang to today. He and his team, a research group made up of doctoral and postdoctoral students, run simulations on supercomputers. Their data makes it possible to compare their hypotheses with concrete observations made by telescopes.

Among the images revealed by NASA, two directly challenged him. image of the Carina Nebula (Carina Nebula) Shows hundreds of stars, never seen before, star SMACS 0723 shows a cluster of galaxies. These images will help him in his research and allow him to compare his data with concrete observations. “This powerful telescope will allow us to observe the evolution of galaxies over time,” says the astrophysicist.

It should be noted that Canada has provided the James Webb Telescope with a scientific instrument and a guiding detector that will be used to make pioneering advances in astronomy. This post guarantees us a share of the observation time by our scientists and researchers.