Birr Leviathan referenced as 10 billion dollar telescope is launched

The Birr Leviathan was referenced during the launch of a mega-project, 10 billion dollar telescope over the Christmas period.
Engineer and science communicator Dr Niamh Shaw said the James Webb Space Telescope follows on from discoveries made possible by the Leviathan telescope, built at Birr Castle in the 1840s. 

Dr Shaw ran a popular educational programme in Birr Theatre and Birr Castle Demesne during the summer and autumn months last year. Acclaimed for her enthusiasm and her ability to communicate difficult scientific facts, Dr Shaw pointed out again and again that we all should be very proud of the Leviathan, which is such an important part of Ireland's scientific heritage.

During the Christmas period she pointed out that the Leviathan is a forerunner of the James Webb telescope. "The James Webb is looking into the darkest of our night skies," she remarked. "In the 1840s the Earl of Rosse examined an area of the Plough with his giant telescope, and saw things, such as the Whirlpool Galaxy, which were invisible to the naked eye. The people looking through the James Webb are using another wavelength of light, infrared, and will discover things which haven't been seen before. Like the Earl of Rosse before them they will discover new things."

It was announced last week that the James Webb Space Telescope was about to undergo an important transformation in space, and the device, which was launched on Christmas Day, would perform a 'mechanical dance' to reach its final form. This was because it was too large to launch while fully extended. It's replacing the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Birr Leviathan is not the only Irish connection to the JWST. A number of Irish scientists helped to build the new telescope. These Irish scientists said they were relieved on Christmas Day when the 10 billion dollar device launched successfully.

 
Dr Patrick Kavanagh from The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies is one of them. Astronomy Ireland this week said Dr Kavanagh is going to give a lecture about the project, via zoom on Monday January 10 at 7pm (further details are available on astronomy.ie). "During the lecture," said Astronomy Ireland, "Dr Kavanagh will describe the Irish work that went into the biggest telescope built by the human race, and all the discoveries it is expected to make."
 
The observatory is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency.  It is the largest and most expensive object ever flown and is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope. 
JWST's infrared observing capabilities will allow it to see way back in time, among other things, the first light in the Universe, the first galaxies formed, inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming today, exoplanets and their atmospheres. 
 
JWST will be the premier observatory of the next decade and will provide thousands of astronomers worldwide with pioneering observations, facilitating discoveries in many fields of astronomy and astrophysics.