In January Junior School were delighted to have an ‘out of this world’ talk by Dr Welsh of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). Dr Welsh gave an insightful presentation to our Year 6 students about the James Webb Telescope, with a truly spectacular look at our galaxy and a fascinating look into deeper space! 

Dr Welsh spoke about the physical features of the telescope - where it was built, its size and the purpose of building it. He went on to describe its journey through space and show us several images of different parts of the galaxy, such as the Carina Nebula, the Pillars of Creation, the Southern Ring Nebula, Deep Field and Stephan’s Quintet.  

He compared pictures from the Hubble telescope with that of the James Webb telescope so we could see the progression and improvement of the images. Dr Welsh explained the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe, showing us a graph of the discovery of some planets that may have similar conditions for life. It was a fantastic and incredibly interesting afternoon. 

“It was very interesting to see pictures of the universe that we have never seen before!” Elizabeth, Year 6 

“It was fascinating to see the difference between the picture quality of the James Webb Telescope and the Hubble Telescope!” Isabelle, Year 6