Uplink 62: Planets with Webb: Old & New

Don’t miss Uplink episode 62 on Wednesday 26th January when we’ll be joined by Hannah Wakeford and Heidi Hammel to discuss how our solar system’s planets and planets orbiting other stars will be observed by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, launched from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana on Christmas Day 2021.

Hannah Wakeford is a lecturer in Astrophysics at the University of Bristol where she leads a group using the Hubble and Webb space telescopes to characterise the atmospheres of exoplanets. Hannah has previously worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Telescope Science Institute after receiving her PhD from the University of Exeter. She is the co-host and producer of Exocast: The Exoplanet Podcast, now in its sixth year. Hannah recently published her first popular science book, Bang!! The Complete History of the Universe with co-authors Brian May and Chris Lintott. Bang!! is a brand new update to the 2005 book of the same name with Sir Patrick Moore, but including new discoveries and science from the past 15 years.

Heidi B. Hammel is an astronomer well-known for her work on the solar system’s outer planets, including Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. She served on the imaging team for the Voyager 2 Neptune encounter and has studied Uranus and Neptune extensively with Hubble and other facilities. She is also an Interdisciplinary Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope and will be studying a diverse array of solar system targets with the new observatory. She received her undergraduate degree from MIT and her PhD from the University of Hawaii and worked as a post-doctoral associate at JPL before she returned to MIT as a Principal Research Scientist.  Heidi is currently the Vice President for Science at AURA, a consortium that operates large astronomical observatories including Webb, the Hubble Space Telescope, Gemini Observatory, and more. Heidi has been recognised for both her science and her work in public outreach, including the Sagan Medal and the San Francisco Exploratorium's Public Understanding of Science Award. In 2020 she received the American Astronomical Society’s Masursky Award for outstanding service to planetary science and exploration. Asteroid ‘1981 EC20’ was renamed ‘3530 Hammel’ in her honour.

We’ll be live from 8pm GMT/9pm CET/3pm ET so set yourself a reminder HERE.