The first release of images and data from actual operations has been announced (well in advance!) for July 12.
I expect that the first months and years of JWST operations will produce more amazing results (not to mention beautiful eye candy) than any but the most fervent fans will even be able to follow. Only six more weeks of waiting and it begins!
Full Version: James Webb Space Telescope
JWST got hit by micrometeroite a couple weeks back but luckily able to shake it off. https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-tele...teoroid-impacts
In one week, NASA will be releasing the first JWST science operation images, and it seems that we can expect impressive results, with pre-release commentary including phrases like "emotional," "deeply personal," and "moved me… as a human being."
At least two specific results will include a deep field image, which is a bit surprising given that the deepest HST image was the result of 23 days of observations collected over a span of ten years. Certainly JWST cannot have devoted that much time yet, but this speaks to the advantage of the IR bands to collect red-shifted visible light. JWST, it seems, will image most distant galaxies in its very first release than Hubble was able to in decades of operation.
The second specific release that has been promised is the spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere. There are lots of those to choose from, and many more will be observed over the next months and years. If I were to hazard a guess, that first planet might be LHS 1140 b, which is a very large terrestrial-density planet midway in mass between Earth and Uranus with a high escape velocity, orbiting a small, inactive red dwarf. HST observations produced some uncertain evidence that LHS 1140 b has H2O in its atmosphere. All of those factors boost the prospects that the planet will have an atmosphere, that the signal will be favorably strong, and that it will be impactful in the search for earthlike conditions elsewhere. However, there are many other targets they could choose, so it's hard to be sure what will be in the first release. Larger planets would more likely return a strong signal but would also be a bit less interesting, as those types of planets have been the subject of successful atmospheric composition observations before.
Some memorable landmark results are a week away.
At least two specific results will include a deep field image, which is a bit surprising given that the deepest HST image was the result of 23 days of observations collected over a span of ten years. Certainly JWST cannot have devoted that much time yet, but this speaks to the advantage of the IR bands to collect red-shifted visible light. JWST, it seems, will image most distant galaxies in its very first release than Hubble was able to in decades of operation.
The second specific release that has been promised is the spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere. There are lots of those to choose from, and many more will be observed over the next months and years. If I were to hazard a guess, that first planet might be LHS 1140 b, which is a very large terrestrial-density planet midway in mass between Earth and Uranus with a high escape velocity, orbiting a small, inactive red dwarf. HST observations produced some uncertain evidence that LHS 1140 b has H2O in its atmosphere. All of those factors boost the prospects that the planet will have an atmosphere, that the signal will be favorably strong, and that it will be impactful in the search for earthlike conditions elsewhere. However, there are many other targets they could choose, so it's hard to be sure what will be in the first release. Larger planets would more likely return a strong signal but would also be a bit less interesting, as those types of planets have been the subject of successful atmospheric composition observations before.
Some memorable landmark results are a week away.
Interesting! The two nebulae and Stephan’s Quintet should be impressive eye candy, and also scientifically interesting as common examples of their type of object, imaged for the first time with JWST.
The deep field image using gravitational lensing is an interesting complicated case. I don't think anyone could say with certainty what that will reveal until it's been seen.
WASP-96 b, rather than being a particularly challenging exoplanet to study, is a relatively easy one (strong signal) that's been partially characterized already. So, rather than JWST providing some low-signal data from a new class of exoplanet, it should probably offer some really good characterization of a planet that we already know something about.
1.5 days left to wait.
The deep field image using gravitational lensing is an interesting complicated case. I don't think anyone could say with certainty what that will reveal until it's been seen.
WASP-96 b, rather than being a particularly challenging exoplanet to study, is a relatively easy one (strong signal) that's been partially characterized already. So, rather than JWST providing some low-signal data from a new class of exoplanet, it should probably offer some really good characterization of a planet that we already know something about.
1.5 days left to wait.
The commissioning of JWST instruments is now complete.
From the website blogs.nasa.gov/webb -
From the website blogs.nasa.gov/webb -
QUOTE
The months-long process of preparing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for science is now complete. All of the seventeen ways or ‘modes’ to operate Webb’s scientific instruments have now been checked out, which means that Webb has completed its commissioning activities and is ready to begin full scientific operations.
Each of Webb’s four scientific instruments has multiple modes of operation, utilizing customized lenses, filters, prisms, and specialized machinery that needed to be individually tested, calibrated, and ultimately verified in their operational configuration in space before beginning to capture precise scientific observations of the universe. The last of all seventeen instrument modes to be commissioned was NIRCam’s coronagraph capability, which works to mostly block incoming starlight by inserting a mask in front of a target star, suppressing the target star’s relatively bright light to increase contrast and enable detection of fainter nearby companions such as exoplanets. NIRCam, or the Near-Infrared Camera, is equipped with five coronagraphic masks — three round masks and two bar-shaped masks — that suppress starlight under different conditions of contrast and separation between the star and its companions.
Each of Webb’s four scientific instruments has multiple modes of operation, utilizing customized lenses, filters, prisms, and specialized machinery that needed to be individually tested, calibrated, and ultimately verified in their operational configuration in space before beginning to capture precise scientific observations of the universe. The last of all seventeen instrument modes to be commissioned was NIRCam’s coronagraph capability, which works to mostly block incoming starlight by inserting a mask in front of a target star, suppressing the target star’s relatively bright light to increase contrast and enable detection of fainter nearby companions such as exoplanets. NIRCam, or the Near-Infrared Camera, is equipped with five coronagraphic masks — three round masks and two bar-shaped masks — that suppress starlight under different conditions of contrast and separation between the star and its companions.
The first image, of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 lensing more distant galaxies, has now been posted:
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/...of-universe-yet
Beautiful!
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/...of-universe-yet
Beautiful!
Here is the first image captured from the press conference.
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/th...acs0723-5mb.jpg
Here is the 5mb version of the above image.
The more you zoom in the more you see. It's beautiful.
Here is the 5mb version of the above image.
The more you zoom in the more you see. It's beautiful.
Worth the wait, I would say!
https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/relics/col...acs0723-73.html has some HST images to compare with this one (found by user leovinus over at NSF.)
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54269.960
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54269.960
QUOTE (PaulM @ Jul 11 2022, 05:38 PM) 
Here is the first image captured from the press conference.
Many galaxies are spindle-shaped being disks seen edge-on. But you'll notice spindle-shaped galaxies with a slight bow, and oriented around a central point in the image. These are gravitationally-lensed galaxies. An intense gravitational field in the big fuzzy galaxy in the center has bent, focused and amplified light from distant galaxies behind it.
Einstein at work!
The lensing is caused by the entire foreground galaxy cluster, which should be dominated by dark matter, so the individual foreground galaxies probably don't contribute much to the total lensing. This is also why the lensed arcs are quite symmetric about the centre of the frame - the dark matter distribution is probably fairly close to spherically symmetric.
Jupiter! (from here which also has other goodies including a transit of the ~1.4 R_earth planet transiting GJ 4332).
Trivia note about Einstein at work: The old "Corpuscular" theory of light also predicts gravitational bending, though just exactly half of what Einstein's theory predicts. Interesting coincidence to me about the simplicity of the difference.
QUOTE (Hungry4info @ Jul 12 2022, 12:22 PM)
Jupiter! (from here which also has other goodies including a transit of the ~1.4 R_earth planet transiting GJ 4332).
Wow! For some reason I read somewhere that Jupiter is actually too bright for JWST to observe (glad to be wrong!)
Even Mars (which has a higher surface brightness than Jupiter) isn't too bright for JWST to observe, and will be observed by it. Mercury and Venus are off limits, of course.
Despite the extensive exploration that Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have already received, JWST still has spectroscopic capabilities that none of the spacecraft that have visited those places could match.
Despite the extensive exploration that Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have already received, JWST still has spectroscopic capabilities that none of the spacecraft that have visited those places could match.
For those curious about the jewel of exoplanet targets, TRAPPIST-1 has already been observed by JWST, will be observed again in the next day or so, and yet again within a week. Based on at least two approved programs, it will be targeted a minimum of 17 times during the first year (Cycle 1), timed to match predicted transits of all seven of its known planets. So, in a nutshell, this much anticipated work is underway, and it's anyone's guess when the first results will be announced, but it seems like a good bet that preliminary results will be released by early 2023 if not sooner, but, as the signals accumulate over many repeated observations, it won't be anytime soon that JWST is done with this amazing system of multiple high-interest targets.
QUOTE (StargazeInWonder @ Jul 13 2022, 08:27 AM)
For those curious about the jewel of exoplanet targets, TRAPPIST-1 has already been observed by JWST, will be observed again in the next day or so, and yet again within a week. Based on at least two approved programs, it will be targeted a minimum of 17 times during the first year (Cycle 1), timed to match predicted transits of all seven of its known planets. So, in a nutshell, this much anticipated work is underway, and it's anyone's guess when the first results will be announced, but it seems like a good bet that preliminary results will be released by early 2023 if not sooner, but, as the signals accumulate over many repeated observations, it won't be anytime soon that JWST is done with this amazing system of multiple high-interest targets.
From THIS THREAD:
Combined transit list for the TRAPPIST-1 system:
TRAPPIST-1b:
5 transits, MIRI/F1500W (GTO 1177)
5 transits, MIRI/F1280W (GTO 1279)
2 transits, NIRISS/SOSS (CO 2589)
TRAPPIST-1c:
4 transits, NIRSpec/S1600A1 (CO 2420)
2 transits, NIRISS/SOSS (CO 2589)
TRAPPIST-1d:
5 transits, NIRISS/SOSS (GTO 1201)
TRAPPIST-1e:
4 transits, NIRSpec/BOTS (GTO 1331)
2 transits, MIRI/F1500W (CO 2304)
TRAPPIST-1f:
2 transits, NIRSpec/BOTS (GTO 1201)
TRAPPIST-1g:
2 transits, NIRSpec/BOTS (CO 2589)
TRAPPIST-1h:
3 transits, NIRSpec/PRISM (CO 1981)
2 transits, NIRSpec/BOTS (CO 2589)
NOTE -- CO 2590 changed to CO 2589 as per StargazeInWonder
Thanks for the update, Mongo – double what I had found, and then some.
Mongo, I did a search for each program and didn't find the 2590 that you mention, but 2589 seems to match the description; perhaps an ID number was changed or mistyped?
Many of those programs now have planned observations more than a year from now, which may be why I had missed them. The first two listed also have some observations with status "Not ready for long range planning."
Here are the months in which observations are to be made (or have been made!) for each program. Because of the obstacle that the Sun provides, TRAPPIST-1 is only observable in June, July, October, November, and December. Essentially, some observations will be made in each possible month from now through December 2023, and there's no doubt that this will continue for much if not all of the time that JWST is operational.
The first of these to conclude will be GO 2589, which in fact concludes eight days from now! This program has no proprietary period, so data will apparently be made public very soon. To temper the hype, this program will not observe planets d, e, or f, which are the ones expected to have the most earthlike temperatures.
GTO 1177 Not ready for long range planning
GTO 1201 Jul 2022, Oct 2022, Nov 2022, Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Nov 2023, Dec 2023, +?
GTO 1279 Nov 2022, Oct 2023
GTO 1331 Jun 2023, Oct 2023
CO 1981 Jul 2023, Nov 2023, Dec 2023
CO 2304 Nov 2022
CO 2420 Jul 2022, Oct 2023, Nov 2023
GO 2589 Jul 2022
CO 2590 ?
Many of those programs now have planned observations more than a year from now, which may be why I had missed them. The first two listed also have some observations with status "Not ready for long range planning."
Here are the months in which observations are to be made (or have been made!) for each program. Because of the obstacle that the Sun provides, TRAPPIST-1 is only observable in June, July, October, November, and December. Essentially, some observations will be made in each possible month from now through December 2023, and there's no doubt that this will continue for much if not all of the time that JWST is operational.
The first of these to conclude will be GO 2589, which in fact concludes eight days from now! This program has no proprietary period, so data will apparently be made public very soon. To temper the hype, this program will not observe planets d, e, or f, which are the ones expected to have the most earthlike temperatures.
GTO 1177 Not ready for long range planning
GTO 1201 Jul 2022, Oct 2022, Nov 2022, Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Nov 2023, Dec 2023, +?
GTO 1279 Nov 2022, Oct 2023
GTO 1331 Jun 2023, Oct 2023
CO 1981 Jul 2023, Nov 2023, Dec 2023
CO 2304 Nov 2022
CO 2420 Jul 2022, Oct 2023, Nov 2023
GO 2589 Jul 2022
CO 2590 ?
The previously linked Characterization of JWST science performance from commissioning document also includes fairly detailed information about the performance impact of the large-ish micrometeoroid strike.
Do we know the size of the crater that was caused by that hit on the mirror?
QUOTE (charborob @ Jul 14 2022, 12:43 PM)
Do we know the size of the crater that was caused by that hit on the mirror?
My guess is very small, relative to the size of the segment. The concern seems to be for uncorrectable wavefront error, due to distortions of the segments' shapes due to the force of the impacts. There's no mention of significant obscuration from the impacts.
The big question is: was this a rare fluke or can we expect more such hits every few months. The commissioning document mentions the possibility of disfavouring pointing along the direction of orbital motion to try to minimize further damage.
QUOTE (fredk @ Jul 14 2022, 08:09 AM)
The commissioning document mentions the possibility of disfavouring pointing along the direction of orbital motion to try to minimize further damage.
The reality of a 20-year mission rather than a 5-year mission gives two good reasons for this: It quadruples whatever rate of impacts, and also allows plenty of time to make up for pointing constraints. All the same observations can still be made, just on a different schedule.
It's interesting that some impacts can affect the figure of a segment in a way that can be measured by wavefront sensing. It looks like the scope as a whole had a 10% increase in the rms wavefront error from the impact. Smaller more frequent impacts might ding the segments in a way that scattered light is the main noticeable effect. Sounds like a good idea to point behind the orbital motion direction, after all here on Earth meteors happen much more after midnight than before.
Indeed - Fig 3 in the commissioning document shows the wavefront error after the big hit:
Click to view attachment
The big hit was on C3, at the middle of the lower-right edge. You can see an area of relatively large wavefront error in that segment (around 1 micron in amplitude) - the bright spot. (And it looks like they tried to compensate by tilting/changing the curvature of C3.)
But the fact they can get a wavefront error signal right through the impact point, at the resolution of this plot, shows that the crater has to be very small. Presumably you'd get no signal from the damaged surface in the crater.
Click to view attachment
The big hit was on C3, at the middle of the lower-right edge. You can see an area of relatively large wavefront error in that segment (around 1 micron in amplitude) - the bright spot. (And it looks like they tried to compensate by tilting/changing the curvature of C3.)
But the fact they can get a wavefront error signal right through the impact point, at the resolution of this plot, shows that the crater has to be very small. Presumably you'd get no signal from the damaged surface in the crater.
I thought there was supposed to be a further release of solar system images today, following the informal release of Jupiter images in the commissioning report. Haven’t found anything so far.
Edit: I was misled by a few terse tweets from yesterday.
According to an article on inverse.com, a general-interest site that's new to me, what’s happening today, or soon, is a release of data from the commissioning period.
https://www.inverse.com/science/webb-space-...pe-solar-system
So there may be a few more engineering images of planets for people to dig out of the commissioning data, but no final products for a while.
Edit2: And while I was editing this post, Hungry4info posted below with a link to a press release about the commissioning data, with a few more engineering images of Jupiter.
Edit: I was misled by a few terse tweets from yesterday.
According to an article on inverse.com, a general-interest site that's new to me, what’s happening today, or soon, is a release of data from the commissioning period.
QUOTE
The images and data STSCI will release Thursday were gathered during the Webb telescope’s 6-month-long commissioning process, during which scientists and engineers on Earth put the telescope’s four instruments through their paces a million miles away from here.
Around the same time, scientists will get their hands on the actual data behind Webb’s striking first full-color images.
“Then the scientists can start delving into that, and now producing scientific papers on those early data,” Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer Charles Beichman, a member of the instrument team for Webb’s NIRCam instrument, tells Inverse.
Around the same time, scientists will get their hands on the actual data behind Webb’s striking first full-color images.
“Then the scientists can start delving into that, and now producing scientific papers on those early data,” Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer Charles Beichman, a member of the instrument team for Webb’s NIRCam instrument, tells Inverse.
https://www.inverse.com/science/webb-space-...pe-solar-system
So there may be a few more engineering images of planets for people to dig out of the commissioning data, but no final products for a while.
QUOTE
Later this week, Webb will point its instruments much closer to home, first checking out the asteroid 1998-BC1 and then moving on to a series of observations of Jupiter, starting with the gas giant’s faint rings.
“I think we will get that data pretty soon,” University of California, Berkeley astronomer Imke de Pater, the primary investigator of the Jupiter study, tells Inverse. “But then it will take us a long, long time to actually reduce them and get usable products out of it. And that will take longer for planetary observations, I think, because the planets move and rotate, so we have to take all of that into account.”
“It won't be instantaneous science," she adds.
“I think we will get that data pretty soon,” University of California, Berkeley astronomer Imke de Pater, the primary investigator of the Jupiter study, tells Inverse. “But then it will take us a long, long time to actually reduce them and get usable products out of it. And that will take longer for planetary observations, I think, because the planets move and rotate, so we have to take all of that into account.”
“It won't be instantaneous science," she adds.
Edit2: And while I was editing this post, Hungry4info posted below with a link to a press release about the commissioning data, with a few more engineering images of Jupiter.
JWST Commissioning data is now available
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/07/14/webb...issioning-data/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/07/14/webb...issioning-data/
Hello !
Did the JWST observe a supernova ?..
https://twitter.com/gbrammer/status/1547690...690869704208392
Did the JWST observe a supernova ?..
https://twitter.com/gbrammer/status/1547690...690869704208392
A supernova, or a red dwarf in the foreground that appears much dimmer in shorter wavelengths? There are about eight objects that appear much brighter in the JWST image than the HST image. And I'm sure it didn't observe eight supernovae.
QUOTE (Bill Harris @ Jul 15 2022, 03:19 AM)
Astrophysicist Becky Smethhurst at the Webb initial image release:
https://youtu.be/7K2J-cO_tOI
Bonjour,
Thanks to StargazeinWonder for his comment.
Moreover :
https://twitter.com/drbecky_/status/1548982...982149231132674
https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/phase2-public/2589.pdf
Thanks to StargazeinWonder for his comment.
Moreover :
https://twitter.com/drbecky_/status/1548982...982149231132674
https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/phase2-public/2589.pdf
On the "dust illuminating" powers of the IR vision of Webb.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereur...sh=3675e13c79d9
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereur...sh=3675e13c79d9
Bonjour ou bonsoir, au choix
Just weeks into its mission, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has broken the record for the oldest galaxy ever observed by nearly 100 million years.
https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/...3.jpg?width=778
GLASS-z13 is the oldest galaxy ever seen. Naidu et al, P. Oesch, T. Treu, GLASS-JWST, NASA/CSA/ESA/STScI
Seeing some of the first galaxies to form after the big bang 13.8 billion years ago is one of the key goals of the JWST. When these emerged is currently unknown: the previous oldest identified galaxy, found by the Hubble Space Telescope, is called GN-z11 and dates back to 400 million years after the birth of the universe.
…
Source : https://www.newscientist.com/article/232960...n-the-universe/
And the following publication :
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.09434.pdf
Just weeks into its mission, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has broken the record for the oldest galaxy ever observed by nearly 100 million years.
https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/...3.jpg?width=778
GLASS-z13 is the oldest galaxy ever seen. Naidu et al, P. Oesch, T. Treu, GLASS-JWST, NASA/CSA/ESA/STScI
Seeing some of the first galaxies to form after the big bang 13.8 billion years ago is one of the key goals of the JWST. When these emerged is currently unknown: the previous oldest identified galaxy, found by the Hubble Space Telescope, is called GN-z11 and dates back to 400 million years after the birth of the universe.
…
Source : https://www.newscientist.com/article/232960...n-the-universe/
And the following publication :
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.09434.pdf
Bonsoir,
I’m afraid of being thrown out of the forum ! I’m taking you so far away from the solar system ! 
What ?! The JWST would already observe at z 16 !!!
https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.12356
I’m afraid of being thrown out of the forum !
I’m taking you so far away from the solar system ! What ?! The JWST would already observe at z 16 !!!
https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.12356
New JWST observations of the Cartwheel galaxy Webb Captures Stellar Gymnastics in The Cartwheel Galaxy
A good summary of the various caveats for the claims of large, early galaxies in Webb images from S&T.
In short, we need proper spectroscopy and ratios of massive to light stars may differ in the distant past from today, and it'll take time to sort through this.
In short, we need proper spectroscopy and ratios of massive to light stars may differ in the distant past from today, and it'll take time to sort through this.
With all the fanfare over the initial image presentstion, Webb is now settling into doing the science it was designed for. The images may not be as spectacular, but the science is significant.
In a manner of speaking, we are past the "pretty pictures" phase.
--Bill
In a manner of speaking, we are past the "pretty pictures" phase.
--Bill
QUOTE (Bill Harris @ Aug 10 2022, 11:19 PM)
With all the fanfare over the initial image presentstion, Webb is now settling into doing the science it was designed for. The images may not be as spectacular, but the science is significant.
In a manner of speaking, we are past the "pretty pictures" phase.
--Bill
In a manner of speaking, we are past the "pretty pictures" phase.
--Bill
Certainly! and good science will not be done in haste.
QUOTE (fredk @ Aug 10 2022, 03:41 PM)
A good summary of the various caveats for the claims of large, early galaxies in Webb images from S&T.
In short, we need proper spectroscopy and ratios of massive to light stars may differ in the distant past from today, and it'll take time to sort through this.
In short, we need proper spectroscopy and ratios of massive to light stars may differ in the distant past from today, and it'll take time to sort through this.
Bonsoir,
(Automatically translated from French)
In her blog Stacy Mac Gaugh gives us a new insight into the issue of the advanced redschift tops of many recent papers, which for many, could only turn out to be hasty, often fanciful announcements.
Until then, the debate revolved mainly on the validity of the z measurements by the photometric method that gives surprisingly high values to the redshift of relatively massive galaxies. All of this would appear to be a major violation of the standard cosmological model.
The "skeptics", and they seem to be quite numerous, ask body and cry, spectra for these objects. This technique applied to the determination of the remoteness of galaxies would lift doubts.
While the two methods (photometric shift in red on the one hand and spectroscopy on the other) could potentially give very different results, the JWST itself had not been directly implicated in the controversy. In a "fun" way, it is his remarkable performances that would also be in question...
https://tritonstation.com/2022/08/11/by-the-wayside/
QUOTE (Quetzalcoatl @ Aug 12 2022, 10:00 AM)
Bonsoir,
In her blog Stacy Mac Gaugh gives us a new insight into the issue of the advanced redschift tops of many recent papers, which for many, could only turn out to be hasty, often fanciful announcements.
In her blog Stacy Mac Gaugh gives us a new insight into the issue of the advanced redschift tops of many recent papers, which for many, could only turn out to be hasty, often fanciful announcements.
Thanks for posting that. In an earlier post titled "JWST Twitter Bender", McGaugh makes the point that MOND predicts more massive galaxies at early cosmological ages than ΛCDM.
Stacy McGaugh is a man btw.
https://astronomy.case.edu/faculty/stacy-mcgaugh/
QUOTE (rboerner @ Aug 12 2022, 08:03 PM)
Stacy McGaugh is a man btw. https://astronomy.case.edu/faculty/stacy-mcgaugh/
https://astronomy.case.edu/faculty/stacy-mcgaugh/Thank you sir(?...), and I apologize to Stacy.
Can you please remind me what detail to expect for images of dwarf planets ?
Hubble can see some features of Ceres and can barely resolve Pluto.
Hubble can see some features of Ceres and can barely resolve Pluto.
Webb in the main IR wavelengths should match Hubble resolution in visible light. I'm unsure if Webb could/will show higher resolution if they took images just concentrating on its shortest wavelengths around 0.6 microns. The diffraction effect is less at 0.6 microns and the wavefront errors appear low enough to support higher resolving power. The F070W NIRCam filter might do the trick around 0.7 microns:
https://jwst-docs.stsci.edu/jwst-near-infra.../nircam-filters
With the dwarf planets I suppose Webb might be able to help learn to things spectroscopically using MIRI.
https://jwst-docs.stsci.edu/jwst-near-infra.../nircam-filters
With the dwarf planets I suppose Webb might be able to help learn to things spectroscopically using MIRI.
In general, the IR spectroscopic capabilities of Webb are unmatched, and will provide a superior capacity to that of missions that have actually visited those worlds. JWST will provide IR spectroscopy of Mars better than that of any spacecraft that has ever orbited Mars. Better of Saturn than Cassini. Etc. Of course the spatial resolution of JWST will not match the spatial resolution of MRO at Mars or Cassini at Saturn, but will still resolve and differentiate large features quite well.
For any specific target, it's another matter whether or not IR spectroscopy answers the question we would like to answer. Sometimes the composition of aerosols and surface units is addressed with spectroscopy and sometimes not. We really won't know before the observations are made. Surely it will answer some questions and leave some unanswered.
As scalbers noted, the spatial resolution of JWST is comparable to HST's visible-light resolution. The highest spatial resolution achievable with HST is in UV, which provides better diffraction limits than visible light. JWST won't beat that resolution. And ground-based observations, which already better spatial resolution than HST and JWST, will be even more impressive when the larger telescopes being constructed now begin operation in the next decade.
It seems safe to say that, when possible, taking the highest possible spatial resolution image of a target concurrent with the great spectral resolution of JWST will allow better science than either would produce alone.
For any specific target, it's another matter whether or not IR spectroscopy answers the question we would like to answer. Sometimes the composition of aerosols and surface units is addressed with spectroscopy and sometimes not. We really won't know before the observations are made. Surely it will answer some questions and leave some unanswered.
As scalbers noted, the spatial resolution of JWST is comparable to HST's visible-light resolution. The highest spatial resolution achievable with HST is in UV, which provides better diffraction limits than visible light. JWST won't beat that resolution. And ground-based observations, which already better spatial resolution than HST and JWST, will be even more impressive when the larger telescopes being constructed now begin operation in the next decade.
It seems safe to say that, when possible, taking the highest possible spatial resolution image of a target concurrent with the great spectral resolution of JWST will allow better science than either would produce alone.
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