A Glimpse of the Past, a Taste of the Future

I am Massimo Stiavelli, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). I am the STScI Project Scientist for Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. I came to the institute in 1995, and before working on Webb, I worked on all of Hubble’s cameras.
My main scientific interest is understanding the formation and evolution of [...]

Wide Field Camera 3's infrared view of the Hubble Ultra Deep FieldI am Massimo Stiavelli, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). I am the STScI Project Scientist for Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. I came to the institute in 1995, and before working on Webb, I worked on all of Hubble’s cameras.My main scientific interest is understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies and the processes occurring in the early universe. I led the team responsible for the Hubble Ultra Deep Field observations, the deepest view of the distant universe ever done in visible light. The telescope had to stare at the same spot for 27 days to make these observations, and I have continued to study this field, trying to understand as much as possible from this large investment of Hubble’s time.Last summer, I was part ...