Towards The Habitable Worlds Observatory: Visionary Science And Transformational Technology

Description

We are pleased to announce the inaugural open community event for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, to be held at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, DC, from July 28‐31, 2025. This milestone event will bring together scientists, engineers, industry and community stakeholders to propel the development of HWO, a mission expected to usher in a new era of astrophysics discovery and address one of humanity’s oldest questions “Are we alone?”

Location
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center (DC)
555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001

Welcome packet

Registration is now closed. A non-interactive livestream of the plenary sessions will be available for public viewing at the STScI Research YouTube Channel. Recordings of both plenary and parallel session talks will be made available after the close of the event.

The Habitable Worlds Observatory is NASA Astrophysics’ next flagship mission, and builds on the heritage of the Hubble, Webb, and Roman Space Telescopes. It will deploy advanced ultraviolet, optical, and infrared technologies to identify potentially habitable worlds and analyze their atmospheres for signs of life. This same technology will empower astronomers to address fundamental, persistent questions in cosmology, galaxy evolution, the origins of elements, and our Solar System’s place in the universe.

HWO has made significant progress in the past year, with NASA establishing a dedicated Technology Maturation Project Office at Goddard Space Flight Center, working in close collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ames Research Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center. This initiative advances critical technologies and science cases, and fosters collaboration across government, academia, and industry. Results of HWO working groups will be showcased together with contributions from the global astronomy and engineering communities.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Science

• Galaxy Growth: Cosmic Web (Intergalactic & Circumgalactic Medium), Active Galactic Nuclei & Black Holes, Galaxy Evolution
• Evolution of the Elements: Stars & Stellar Populations, Star Formation & Interstellar Medium, Cosmic Explosions
• Cosmology: Nature of Dark Matter & Dark Energy, Distance Scale, Hubble Tension
• Planetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, Architectures, Our Solar System, Exoplanet Demographics
• Search for Life: Target Stars & Systems, Biosignatures, Habitability

Technology

• Starlight Suppression: Contrast Technology & Methods
• Ultrastable Telescope and Observatory Technology
• Ultraviolet, Optical, & Near-Infrared Instrument Technologies: mirror coatings, gratings, detectors, spectroscopic multiplexing technologies
• L2 Servicing technology and commercial synergies
• Emerging Technologies: photonics, quantum sensing
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for mission development, engineering, science research

Accepted presenters will be invited to contribute to the HWO25 proceedings, which will serve as the foundation for the first HWO Community Science Book.

Astrobiology,