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    Environment & Science

    Watching the Skies with Brad Klein - Jan. 1-7: The James Webb Space Telescope

    LehighValleyNews.com | By Brad Klein
    Published January 1, 2024 at 6:00 AM EST
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    LehighValleyNews.com
    Watching the skies with Brad Klein

    BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s "Backyard Astronomy Guy," Marty McGuire.

    This week, we look back at a banner year for the James Webb Space Telescope.

    Launched on Christmas day, 2021, it is now operating from its permanent orbit of the Sun, about a million miles outside the Earth’s orbit.

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    Marty McGuire
    Backyard Astronomy Guy Marty McGuire visits the James Webb Space Telescope before its 2021 launch,

    “This allows it to be in a very cold dark spot to observe distant parts of the universe,” according to McGuire, who had a chance to see the instrument, up close, before its launch.

    In 2016 and again in 2017, McGuire traveled to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland where he was able to observe the telescope’s enormous mirror as it was assembled and tested.

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    NASA
    A portion of the Milky Way’s dense center photographed by the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this one image.

    “I saw it from 100 feet away and now it's a million miles away,” he said.

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    Brad Klein
    I was a founding member of the WLVR News team in 2019, bringing more than 20 years of experience in radio journalism, podcast, and video production. I’ve had a role in a number of long-running programs at NPR, MSNBC and WNYC. A founding producer of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday,” I played similar start-up roles for NPR’s Weekly Edition, MSNBC’s Edgewise, Public Radio International’s Satellite Sisters and even as a writer on one of the early pilot episodes of the news/comedy show, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. I’ve also worked as a reporter, producer, and director for National Public Radio News programs including Weekend Edition and All Things Considered. An avid naturalist, I lead educational programs for the American Museum of Natural History and Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
    See stories by Brad Klein