Editor's Note: This post highlights data from Webb science in progress, which has not yet been through the peer-review process. On June 25, 2023, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope turned to famed ringed world Saturn for its first near-infrared observations of the planet. The initial imagery from Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) is already fascinating researchers. Saturn …
This week, astronomers around the world are celebrating the announcement of the next cycle of Webb observations. We asked Christine Chen, associate astronomer and JWST Science Policies Group lead at the Space Telescope Science Institute, to describe the selection process to determine the targets Webb will observe. "On May 10, the Space Telescope Science Institute …
All 17 observing modes of the James Webb Space Telescope undergo routine performance monitoring and calibration. This month, while performing calibration by comparing the brightness of standard stars that have been well-cataloged by other observatories to what Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) was receiving, team members noticed a discrepancy in the data. Further analysis of MIRI's …
Editor's Note: This post highlights data from Webb science in progress, which has not yet been through the peer-review process. On Oct. 11, 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope spent over 20 hours observing the long-studied Hubble Ultra Deep Field for the first time. The general observer program (GO 1963) focused on analyzing the field …
The study of exoplanets is a key part of the James Webb Space Telescope's science goals. We asked Webb's Deputy Observatory Project Scientist Christopher Stark of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to tell us about one of the ways Webb studies other worlds. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has many different observing modes to study …
Editor's Note: This post highlights data from Webb science in progress, which has not yet been through the peer-review process. On June 20, 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope spent just over one hour staring at Messier 92 (M92), a globular cluster 27,000 light-years away in the Milky Way halo. The observation – among the …
In September, the James Webb Space Telescope observed as NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally smashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid, in the world's first-ever in-space test for planetary defense. Today, we hear from Stefanie Milam, Webb's deputy project scientist for planetary science at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, about how the Webb …
On Jan. 15, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) experienced a communications delay within the science instrument, causing its flight software to time out. Following a full investigation by NASA and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) teams, the cause was determined to likely be a galactic cosmic ray, a form …
Editor's Note: This post highlights data from Webb science in progress, which has not yet been through the peer-review process. In an observational feat of high precision, scientists used a new technique with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to capture the shadows of starlight cast by the thin rings of Chariklo. Chariklo is an icy, small …
