Distant galaxies, exploding stars, massive black holes. Those colorful cosmic dramas—once described only in theoretical diagrams and artistic renderings—now arrive on our screens in vivid detail thanks to images captured by the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes. From glowing supernova remnants to the magnetic fields of star formations, these deep space scenes have captured the public attention with views that often look more like art than astronomy.
But beyond their beauty, do the “pretty pictures,” as George Washington University Associate Professor of Physics Alexander J. van der Horst puts it, have real significance—for science, for society and for solutions to issues on Earth?
Those were some of the questions that a panel of faculty experts addressed at the Nov. 19 “Reaching for the Stars—Big Equipment for Big Science” event, the second in a series of science conversations hosted by the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) and moderated by CCAS Dean Paul Wahlbeck.
In a lively discussion, the panelists guided the audience through space telescope images while discussing what scientific insights they reveal, what infrastructure is needed to develop such big projects and how society benefits from these efforts.
“The discussion of science is a critical topic for our day—whether that be the role of science and scientific expertise in policy making or the role of grants in federal funding or the role of science in our society, in our world and beyond our world,” Wahlbeck said.
In addition to van der Horst, whose research on a variety of high-energy cosmic transient sources utilizes state-of-the-art technology, the other panelists were Research Professor of Physics Nicholas White, who served for over 25 years at NASA and earned a Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in 2004, and Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Public Administration Leah Brooks, who studies federal spending and its long-term economic impacts on infrastructure and research.
The event opened with a review of celestial images from the two space telescopes: the Hubble which was launched in 1990 and observes the universe in visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared lightly; and the James Webb, the largest telescope in space when it launched in 2021, whose high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments allow it to view objects that are too distant for the Hubble.
“The only way in which we can study physics under its most extreme conditions is by using these observations with all these different telescopes and getting these full…big pictures,” said van der Horst, who is also the chair of the CCAS Department of Physics. He noted that his work studying, for example, black holes and dying stars relies on “telescopes across the spectrum of light.”
The panel also showed side-by-side images of the iconic Pillars of Creation, a region of space about 6,500 light-years from Earth where new stars form within dense clouds of gas and dust. First photographed by the Hubble in 1995, the Webb’s newer near-infrared light images penetrate the space dust and provide perspectives that are helping astrophysicists revamp their models of star formation. Indeed, both physicists said that the images from the two telescopes have pushed science into unexplored regions.
The technologies have allowed scientists to “basically use the universe as a laboratory,” White said. “It’s transforming our view of how the universe works.”
The high cost of science
Still, every scientific step forward comes with a price tag, noted economist Brooks. The Hubble and Webb telescopes are each estimated to have total costs amounting to $10-11 billion—about the price of 100 F-35 fighter jets, she said.
While much of their astrophysics research funding is tied to government agencies like NASA and the National Science Foundation, the panelists identified what van der Horst called “alternative partners” like foundations and even investors in areas like rockets and the search for extraterrestrial life. “There are many more actors in the game now,” he said.
At the same time, the panelists discussed the evolving—and sometimes tenuous—relationship between private industry and scientific funding. Brooks said that the private sector market has valued some NASA investments like SpaceX, Blue Origin and commercial satellites. But in every case, she said, their bottom line is potential profits over scientific discoveries.
“We will never expect private industry to do anything that does not make money,” she said. “If you want something that you anticipate could make money in 50 years, that is not a project for private industry. That’s why we have government funding.”
Still, van der Host said, the technical skills honed in astrophysics labs—from problem solving to analytics—can apply in fields across the economic spectrum. The same technology behind big telescopes drives innovations that ripple through the economy—expanding STEM career opportunities and translating into disciplines like engineering, computing and education.
“You can think of people as getting trained in using a particular set of skills and then they go off to the labor force and take those skills into other jobs,” Brooks echoed. “So they may not use their scientific training in physics, but they might work for a hedge fund on Wall Street.”
Indeed, the panel pointed to GW students and alumni who honed their professional qualifications through astrophysics opportunities. In GW’s partnership with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, for example, students have helped build space exploration instruments while also working on big data computational projects. Likewise, alumni from the GW Astrophysics Group have gone on to careers in universities, NASA and research institutions along with diverse roles across industry, government and other professions.
“The range of careers and the amazing success that they’ve had is absolutely fantastic,” van der Host said. “We always say…physicists can do anything.”