Webb and iREx members in the news!

After twenty years of work, the Webb Telescope team finally saw their observatory launch into space on December 25th.

As expected, this event attracted a lot of media interest. The telescope and many iREx researchers who worked closely on the development of the Canadian instruments as well as the planning of the observatory observations were featured.

Here are a few of the articles, broadcasts, and interviews that were conducted around the Webb launch with iREx members. Note however that this list is far from being complete!

Our Coverage

Christine Beaudoin, Olivier Hernandez, Nathalie Ouellette and René Doyon at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium in November 2021. Credit: Amélie Philibert, Université de Montréal

On November 22nd, the Université de Montréal organised a video shoot at Space for Life’s Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium. Nathalie Ouellette, as well as our Director René Doyon and our founding member Olivier Hernandez, now Director at the Planetarium, participated in the special program: UdeM: At the heart of the Webb mission, hosted by Christine Beaudoin.

During the same day, our astrophysicists Marie-Eve Naud, Frédérique Baron, Nathalie Ouellette and Olivia Lim also recorded La petite école de l’espace: édition spéciale – télescope spatial James Webb (in French), a program aimed at children broadcasted on December 22nd 2021.

Olivia Lim, Marie-Eve Naud, Frédérique Baron and Nathalie Ouellette during the filming of La petite école de l’espace at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium in November 2021. Credit: Amélie Philibert, Université de Montréal.

Frédérique Baron and Nathalie Ouellette also took the opportunity to interview René Doyon about Webb. The special episode of our podcast Les astrophysiciennes, available in French on your favorite platforms, recounts the history of the involvement of Université de Montréal researchers in the mission.

In the Canadian media

Our researchers were featured in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada in numerous reports dedicated to Webb in print, on the web, on the radio, and on television.

René Doyon on the popular TV show Découverte, broadcast in January 2022.

Several special features were published in magazines, on TV, on the radio and online.

• Télescope James-Webb: le Québec à l’avant-plan de l’étude de l’Univers, by Fanny Rohrbacher, Québec Science, October 21 2021, with Nathalie Ouellette, Olivia Lim, Stefan Pelletier and René Doyon.
• Émission spéciale sur le télescope spatial James Webb, Les années-lumière, December 12 2021, with René Doyon, David Lafrenière, Nathalie Ouellette, and Lisa Dang.
• Le long voyage du télescope spatial James-Webb, Agence Science Presse podcast Je vote pour la science, December 15 2021, with René Doyon and Nathalie Ouellette.
• Entrevue – Le télescope spatial James Webb, Cosmodôme, December 22 2021, with Étienne Artigau, Olivia Lim, and Loïc Albert.
• René Doyon et le télescope spatial James Webb, Découverte, January 28 2022, with René Doyon.
• Michel Lacombe s’entretient avec René Doyon, Le 21e, Radio-Canada, January 31 2022, with René Doyon.

In addition to these special programs, several published articles and interviews featured our researchers:

Lisa Dang in the Toronto Star in December 2021. Photo by Giovanni Capriotti for the Toronto Star.

• Le Canada à la chasse aux exoplanètes, by Mathieu Perreault, La Presse, November 15 2021, with René Doyon.
• Powerful Webb space telescope featuring Canadian instruments set for Dec. 18 launch, by Sidhartha Banerjee, The Toronto Star, November 16 2021, with René Doyon.
• Un instrument de chez nous à bord du télescope James Webb, by Pauline Gravel, Le Devoir, November 18 2021, with René Doyon.
• À la découverte du Télescope spatial James Webb, Salut Bonjour, TVA, November 27 2021, with Nathalie Ouellette.
• World’s most powerful space telescope will let researchers look back in time. This Canadian astronomer will be among its first users, by Steve McKinley, The Toronto Star, December 10 2021, with Lisa Dang.
• What will the James Webb Space Telescope uncover?, by David Dickinson, Sky & Telescope, December 15 2021, with Lisa Dang.
• Guided by Canada’: NASA space telescope with Canadian components to launch this week, by Bob Weber, The Toronto Star, December 20 2021, with René Doyon.

Nathalie Ouellette on Salut Bonjour, November 27, 2021

• What the Webb hopes to catch, by Iven Semeniuk, The Globe and Mail, December 21 2021, with Olivia Lim and René Doyon.
• Le télescope James Webb est un peu, beaucoup canadien, by Maxime Bilodeau, Affaires universitaires, December 22 2021, with Olivia Lim and René Doyon.
• Why the James Webb Space Telescope is such a big deal, CBC News, December 23 2021, with Olivia Lim and René Doyon.
• ‘Game changer’: Canada’s crucial role in the James Webb telescope launch, CTV News, December 23 2021, with Loïc Albert.
• Lancement du télescope James Webb : Entrevue avec Nathalie Ouellette, Tout un matin, Radio-Canada, December 24 2021, with Nathalie Ouellette.
• Canadian scientists involved in James Webb space telescope say it’s a dream come true, by Virginie Ann, Toronto Star, December 25 2021, with René Doyon and Nathalie Ouellette.

Olivia Lim on CBC News in December 2021.

• Le voyage stressant du télescope James-Webb, by Marine Corniou, Québec Science, December 28 2021, with Nathalie Ouellette.
• La fusée qui transporte le télescope James Webb a été lancée le matin de Noël, Drainville PM, 98.5FM, December 28 2021, with Nathalie Ouellette.
• Des nouvelles du télescope James Webb : Entrevue avec René Doyon, Les années-lumière, Radio-Canada, January 6 2022, with René Doyon.
• Le télescope James Webb atteint sa destination finale, Radio-Canada, January 24 2022, with René Doyon.
• Quirks Listener Question: In which direction will the James Webb Space Telescope be looking? Quirks and Quarks, January 20 2022, with René Doyon.

Elsewhere in the world

Several iREx researchers were also featured in the media around the world. Here are a few examples:

• Webb Space Telescope: Building the Next Discovery Machine, NASA’s Curious Universe (a NASA podcast), November 30 2021 (with René Doyon).
• The $11-billion Webb telescope aims to probe the early Universe, Nature, December 8 2021 (with Lisa Dang).
• Le James Webb, un pas de géant dans la quête d’autres “Terres”, Nouvel Obs, December 10 2021 (with René Doyon).
• JWST is ready for launch and amazing science, Planetary Radio (a Planetary Society podcast), December 15 2021 (with René Doyon).

Nathalie Ouellette during live coverage of NASA’s Webb launch.

• James Webb Space Telescope Launch – Official NASA Broadcast, NASA launch coverage, December 25 2021 (with Nathalie Ouellette).
• The James Webb Space Telescope, Today, Explained (Vox’s podcast), January 18 2022 (with Lisa Dang).
• The James Webb Space Telescope will map the atmosphere of exoplanets by Louis-Philippe Coulombe on Space.com on February 1 2022. It is a translation of the article written in French for The Conversation “On pourra cartographier l’atmosphère d’exoplanètes grâce au télescope spatial James Webb“, published December 13 2021.

The iREx researchers felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to share their enthusiasm for the great Webb Telescope adventure, which is just starting!