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By Joseph Okoh
NASA's release of images from the James Webb Space Telescope has been
thrilling scientists around the world - including the team at the
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) who had a hand in building
it.
DIAS contributed to the design and fabrication of one of four science
instruments on the Webb - the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
Dr Paddy Kavanagh from DIAS also participated in commissioning the
instrument at the Webb Mission Operations Center in Baltimore.
Studying the stunning images published today, he said: "It's a bit
overwhelming at times! I tried not to think about it when I was doing
the work. It was great to be led here in Ireland by Prof Tom Ray, who
is an amazing scientist and has led Ireland's involvement in JWST.
Images from the #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope have been thrilling people
around the world - including the Irish scientists who helped build
it. One of them, Dr Paddy Kavanagh, left school at 16 but was
persuaded to go back into education. He has been reaching for the
stars ever since pic.twitter.com/xHDPIKOBTm
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 12, 2022
"When you see the news coverage this is getting... and this is just the
beginning! These images are the deepest views we've ever had of the
universe and they were taken in just 12 hours. And this thing is going
to be observing for years and years."
Dr Kavanagh's own career has been all about reaching for the stars.
He first left school at 16 and went back to education to achieve a PhD
later with his mother's support.
"It's certainly one of my proudest moments as an astrophysicist and in
life as well. I did walk away from school when I was 16. And it was
really my mother who knew that I could do whatever I wanted to do and
pushed me back into it. And it was when I got there, and I had great
teachers, that I realised how much I loved science and physics.
"I had an interest in astronomy before that. But that gave me an
opportunity to really try and make a career out of it. And if I didn't
make it, then at least I tried. But I worked hard and I got lucky at
times. And today I'm standing here talking about the deepest image of
the universe that has ever been taken!"