First Edinburgh-Copenhagen Joint Workshop: Seeding Joint Studies of the First Galaxies with JWST

The recently-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is ushering in a new era in studying the earliest epochs of the Universe. Dubbed the “First Light Machine”, JWST is already revealing unprecedented insights and unexpected mysteries about the first galaxies that lit up the Universe during the so-called Epoch of Reionisation (EoR). Situating and contextualising these ground-breaking observations within our current models of how galaxies like our Milky Way came to be is a forefront challenge in astrophysics today.

Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA) and Copenhagen’s Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) are two of the leading institutes involved in utilising JWST and other observations to probe the EoR. This workshop is the first of two bringing together DAWN and IfA astrophysicists working on early galaxy evolution, with the goal of creating synergies and fostering collaborations that will strengthen and benefit researchers at both institutes.