sci24003 — Announcement

Science with the Hubble & Webb Conference

29 May 2024

- Chris Evans & Paule Sonnentrucker -

The Science with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes VII: Stars, Gas and Dust in the Universe conference was held in Porto, Portugal from 29 April to 2 May 2024. This was the latest in the series of ESA-sponsored conferences on the science from the missions, and was organised in collaboration with STScI and the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto.

After much anticipation of the complementary capabilities of Hubble and Webb, we are now in the remarkable period of having these two pioneering observatories in science operations at the same time. The rich scientific programme of the conference emphasised the unique scientific synergies between Hubble and Webb, and with other space and ground-based facilities. The programme featured 22 invited talks, 36 contributed talks, and 22 posters; the full list of talks is available from the conference page. The conference was run as a hybrid meeting with 105 in-person and 38 remote participants.

The conference included two breakout discussion sessions on ‘Maximising Hubble’s Synergies and Legacy’ and ‘Looking to the 2030s and beyond’, with a focus on how to best use the unique capabilities of Hubble and Webb in the coming years, and on the scientific questions that will be driving the field in the 2030s and what facilities will be needed to address them. These sessions helped to further highlight the broad diversity of science enabled by Hubble’s unique UV and visible capabilities, particularly when combined with Webb’s unprecedented infrared sensitivity. Chris Evans (ESA) and Jennifer Wiseman (NASA) also gave a public talk on science highlights from the two missions at the Rectory Building of the University of Porto in the historic centre of the city.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the members of the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC) and Local Organising Committee (LOC), who contributed to a successful, stimulating and enjoyable conference:

SOC: Chris Evans (Chair), Jarle Brinchmann, Beth Biller, Daniela Calzetti, Paul Crowther, Kalliopi Dasyra, Annalisa De Cia, Melissa McClure, Stefanie Milam, Nathalie Nguyen-Quoc Ouellette, Neill Reid, Megan Reiter, Jennifer Wiseman, Adi Zitrin.

LOC: Paule Sonnentrucker (co-Chair), Jarle Brinchmann (co-Chair), Joana Bateira, Brett Blacker, Afonso do Vale, Maria Gunnarsson, Sherita Hanna, Pam Jeffries, Holly Reedy, Jean-Baptiste Regnard, Elsa Marta Silva, Sofia Velasco, Daniel Vaz.

Contacts

Chris Evans
ESA/HST & ESA/JWST Project Scientist
ESA Office, STScI Baltimore, USA
Email: hubblenewseurope@stsci.edu