NASA Postdoctoral Fellow explores the history of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope
In this episode of Further Together, host Michael Holtz asks Hutchison about her research emphasis, how she became a NASA NPP Fellow, what led her to a career in the sciences, and more.
Center: Goddard Space Flight Center
When the James Webb Space Telescope, sometimes referred to as the JWST or Webb, was launched on December 25, 2021, scientists at NASA had some idea that the images it produced would help them study the history of the universe. Those NASA scientists closest to project are actually in awe of what they’re finding.
“One of my biggest interests is the early universe,” said Taylor Hutchison, Ph.D., a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow conducting research with the JWST. “We know next to nothing about the first galaxies that ever formed. Thanks to the JWST, we’re now starting to uncover things we never even imagined were possible to find. It’s really exciting.”
Hutchison says the first photos taken by the JWST, which were released in July 2022, brought her to tears because they were so beautiful and gave an incredible sense of the vastness and beauty of the universe. Images from the JWST provided the highest-resolution infrared view of the universe captured to date. One of the highlights of those photos for Hutchison was the light fingerprint of a galaxy 13 to 14 billion years old, whose light traveled 12 billion years to get to us.
“We saw that light and so many different fascinating nebular objects that came from just looking at that spectrum,” Hutchison said. “My entire dissertation for my Ph.D. was blown away by this. It took me six years to get a hint of the amount of information we got from that one spectrum from JWST. It’s just beautiful.”
Hutchison has always been interested in science but didn’t actually fall in love with astronomy and astrophysics until she got to college. At the small liberal arts university she attended, there was one member of the faculty who taught astrophysics.
“He was like, ‘Hey, you wanna come work in the observatory with me?’ I was like, ‘Yes!’,” she said. She began studying astrophysics and hasn’t looked back since.
Hutchison began her NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship in August 2022 and says the opportunities the fellowship presents are amazing in terms of travel to work with collaborators, paid publication fees, and travel to attend conferences to talk about her science.
“The fact that I can focus on doing my science is really exciting, and then having access to a NASA facility is really cool because all of the scientists here are amazing,” she said. “There’s such a beautiful pool of knowledge that I can learn from and pull from.”
She adds: “I’m getting to meet all these other scientists, including scientists that look like me and are part of the same groups I identify with, and we’re able to explore and broaden our understanding of the universe together. I think that’s my favorite part.”
Hutchison and her fellow scientists at NASA are making history together.