Seeing the Seven Ages a visual journey through the first half of cosmic history

Narrator and visual guide for the group. Explains why we need different telescopes for different wavelengths using the electromagnetic spectrum from Chapter 0.4, and introduces the specific telescopes — Planck, Hubble, JWST, Chandra, ALMA — that the other four students draw from. Frames the entire group presentation: telescopes are time machines, each image a photograph of a different era of cosmic history.

Works with CMB maps from the Planck satellite — the earliest photograph of the Universe at 380,000 years old. Explains what color variations mean (density fluctuations, the seeds of future structure), compares COBE, WMAP, and Planck maps to show improving resolution over decades, and connects the CMB to Big Bang theory.

Works with deep field images — the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and JWST deep fields. Explains that looking deeper into space means looking further back in time, identifies the difference between nearby and distant galaxies in the same image, and connects chaotic early galaxies to the ordered spirals we see today.

Works with two contrasting sets of images: star-forming regions (the Pillars of Creation, Orion Nebula in infrared from JWST) and stellar remnants (Crab Nebula from Chandra in X-ray, Hubble planetary nebulae). The narrative arc is the complete stellar lifecycle — from birth to death — told through publicly available images across infrared and X-ray wavelengths.

Takes a single famous object — Centaurus A or the Crab Nebula — and shows how it looks completely different across radio, infrared, visible, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths, explaining what each wavelength reveals. Serves as the group's conclusion, synthesizing the central message: the full story of the Universe requires the full spectrum of light.