Twenty years ago, Chris Mullis was an astrophysicist, making maps of the universe.
One day, he stumbled upon a galaxy cluster—he actually took the images as a favor for some colleagues.
But his discovery led scientists to point the new Webb Space Telescope at the same area.
And when NASA released a new photo of that cluster last week, it was the deepest look man has ever had into the early days of the universe.
For reasons you’ll hear about in this episode, Chris Mullis doesn’t practice astronomy any more—at least not professionally.
But his memory of that discovery is still strong. And so is his belief of why it matters to keep looking at the stars.
Show notes
- More details about the galaxy cluster
- Other images from the Webb telescope
Other music in this episode
- Lobo Loco, "Vibes of the Universe"
- The Owl, "Telescope"
