This short contribution highlights four points that helped outreach in the Netherlands, namely the importance of (i) being involved in the building of some part of JWST as a small country; (ii) having a big centerpiece for outreach; (iii) using planetarium shows to create new experiences; and (iv) reaching more diverse and younger audiences through special exhibitions and projects.
Being part of JWST for 25 years
The Netherlands has been involved in JWST for more than 25 years as part of the European Consortium of ten countries that built the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) together with the US. Specifically, the Netherlands, under leadership of the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA), was responsible for the design, construction and testing of the medium-resolution spectrometer main optics. Being a relatively small country, an important part of the outreach was showing to the Dutch general public that, yes, one can still have a significant role in such a flagship mission even as a minor partner. The NOVA outreach office, led by Marieke Baan, was crucial in alerting the press at key dates and linking them up with MIRI astronomers and builders. As a result, the public and press, from newspapers to radio and tv, clearly became fascinated by the story and followed the journey of “our” part of the MIRI hardware from the Netherlands to the UK, and then to the USA and finally to launch, over more than two decades. Triggered by the NASA messaging strategy (see contribution by Antonella Nota), the main Dutch radio channel (close to 1 million listeners) asked for brief updates every few weeks in the months between launch and first images. The first MIRI image in April 2022, when MIRI was finally cold, was a particularly emotional moment for the MIRI team.
Having an eye catcher: the JWST 1:10 model
The impact of the in-person and tv outreach events was helped by acquiring a unique 1:10 JWST scale model. This beautiful and highly accurate model, only a few of which exist in the world, does the unfolding of JWST exactly as it happened in space, from its “origami” position in the nose of the Ariane V rocket to the fully functional telescope, in the same sequence. It was displayed at various locations in Leiden from late 2020 onward in numerous events, with PhD and MSc students presenting and demonstrating the model and the JWST science. In particular, Leiden was the 2022 European City of Science, with the big conference happening (by chance) exactly in the week of July of the first images release. Most events also had a children’s corner in which small JWST telescopes were built from Lego. A smaller 1:20 model was built by NOVA to bring to schools for outreach and education events.
The power of planetarium shows
The software and astronomical data for planetarium shows has undergone huge improvements in recent years, with beautiful images of the sky and all kinds of phenomena in it now available open source. NOVA partnered with the Omniversum planetarium in The Hague to develop a JWST-specific show, consisting of a mix of a more traditional outreach talk by an astronomer with planetarium journeys into space to visit JWST and specific objects, from nearby exoplanets to star-forming regions to beautiful galaxies and ultimately the deep universe. It was surprisingly easy to develop and simple to update (when new JWST images are released) and has also been used in, for example, Amsterdam, Groningen and Copenhagen planetaria. These shows generally attract younger and more diverse audiences than traditional outreach talks.
Diverse audiences: astronomy & art and exhibitions
One of my personal hobbies is astronomy and art. In 2019-2020, an exhibition was hosted in the Boerhaave science museum in Leiden (2019 European Museum of the Year) on Cosmos: Art and Knowledge, visited by 60000 people; it also looked forward to JWST and ended just as corona hit in 2020. One of the 1:10 JWST models is now part of the permanent exhibition at the Boerhaave museum since 2021 in its Big Questions room.
Inspired by the Boerhaave success, a smaller exhibition On the Road to the Beginning was hosted in September 2022 in the Leiden University hospital gallery in collaboration with astronomer-artist Vincent Icke. It was a mix of the first Webb images next to Icke’s astronomy-inspired paintings, with again a children’s corner with Lego models. The hospital location was chosen to attract a different cross section of society and to inspire those that are going through difficult times – from young to old - with the wonders of the universe.
The development of exhibitions benefits hugely from partnering with professionals. Good relations with small companies that specialize in their design and deployment are highly worthwhile the time and effort it takes to initiate them. One example is the JWST Universe exhibition, which ran in the Leiden Old Observatory through 2023-early 2024, see https://www.jwst-universe.net/. Such exhibitions also provide an opportunity to include videos that tell personal stories and show new science results, especially from the younger generation.