Observing the Cosmos and its Galaxies

Premier observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Vera Rubin Observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and the Dark Energy Survey Instrument have collectively catapulted our understanding of the Milky Way, nearby galaxies, galaxy clusters and superclusters, and the large-scale Universe into uncharted and exciting territory. 

These powerful telescopes observe the cosmos through imaging at many wavelengths of light (most invisible to the human eye) and by splitting light into its individual wavelengths to create spectra of objects in space.

In this presentation, Dr. Justin Robinson will explain how these observatories use multi-wavelength imaging to reveal the physical properties of galaxies and spectroscopy to learn even more about them. The talk will include demonstrations showing the power of these instruments and discuss efforts to use the Moon to launch a new era of astronomical observations.

Dr. Justin Robinson is a lecturer of physics and astronomy at Georgia State University (GSU), having received his B.S. in physics with an astrophysics concentration from Saint Mary's College of California, and then his M.S. in physics and Ph.D. in astronomy from GSU. He serves as GSU's affiliate director for the Georgia Space Grant Consortium, faculty lead for the Georgia Outreach Team for Space (GOT Space), and program manager of the official Atlanta chapter of the international STEM outreach program Astronomy on Tap.