The James Webb telescope is an important milestone in modern astronomy. Europe and the Netherlands, including Leiden's world famous Ewine van Dishoeck, played an important part in the creation of the Webb telescope.

On December the 25th 2021, the James Webb telescope was launched. Currently, the telescope is floating 1,5 million kilometres away from Earth. On July 12th 2022, NASA will show off the first color images made by the telescope.

A lot of people are waiting for these images: what are we expecting and what will we actually see? To answer these questions, Rijksmuseum Boerhaave is organizing a special day together with Ewine van Dishoek and her team on July 15th. Together with you (!) they'll take a look at these first pictures. 

In two short lectures, Ewine van Dishoeck and her team will discuss the images. First of, Ewine will tell you what you can see in these pictures and what (careful) conclusions we can draw from them. When the images are made public on the 12th, museum Boerhaave will decide on a second speaker who's most suited for discussing these pictures. This name will be announced after the 12th.

In the KidsCorner families kan make their own James Webb telescope model out of paper or LEGO. Did you know that the scientist Christiaan Huygens in 1600 published a book about aliens as one of the first people ever? In the KidsCorner you can imagine and draw your own alien. 

Moreover, a moveable scale model of the James Webb telescope (1:10) will be presented. With the help of this model you can see how the sunshades and mirrors folded out in space during the first few weeks after the launch. Astronomers of the Leiden Observatory will explain everything you want to know about the telescope and the model.

Practical information

When: Friday July 15th 2022 , 11:00 - 15:00
Who: The lectures are meant for everyone who has signed up for them (you have to register for each lecture seperately, you can find the necessary forms at the bottom of this page). All of the other activities do not require registering. 
Costs: Attending is free, all you need is a ticket for Museum Boerhaave.
Language: Both the lectures and the activities will be in Dutch. 

Program

• 11.00 Lecture: Ewine van Dishoeck will discuss her vision of the new space pictures. This is a short reading of about 40 minutes. After the lecture, you can ask questions. Register below.
• 13.00 Lecture: Mystery Speaker; depending on what the pictures will show, Boerhaave will choose the best speaker available to give a lecture of about 40 minutes. Afterwards, you can ask questions. Register below.
• Between 11:00 and 15:00 there will be demonstrations in the Grote Vragen room with a James Webb 1:10 model to scale, an astronomer will answer all your questions. Every 10/15 minutes there's a demonstration with explanations. Registering is not necessary, you can attend as long as there's enough space.
• KidsCorner is ongoing between 11.00 and 15.00. Over here, kids can make their own James Webb telescope out of paper or LEGO. Besides that, people will explain tot he kids how the telescope works. This activity is suitable for children aged 6 and up. Registering is not necessary.
  A second activity in the KidsCorner focusses on extraterrestrial life. Kids are invited to think about and draw their own aliens. This activity is suitable for children aged 4 and up. Registering is not necessary. 
• The digital interactive can be visited online from 11.00 to 15.00. 

Register here for the lectures!