1. The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning
- Author
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Jane Rigby, Marshall D Perrin, Michael W McElwain, Randy A Kimble, Scott Friedman, Matt Lallo, René Doyon, Lee D Feinberg, Pierre Ferruit, Alistair Glasse, Marcia Rieke, George Rieke, Gillian Wright, Chris Willott, Knicole Colon, Stefanie Milam, Susan Neff, Christopher C Stark, Jeff Valenti, Jim Abell, Faith E Abney, Yasin Abul-huda, D. Scott Acton, Evan Adams, David Adler, Jonathan Aguilar, Nasif Ahmed, Loic Albert, Stacey Alberts, David Aldridge, Marsha Allen, Martin Altenburg, Javier Álvarez-Márquez, Catarina Alves De Oliveira, Gregory Andersen, Kimberly Banks, Matthew D Bergkoetter, Ray Boucarut, Charles Bowers, Steven Cale, Mark Clampin, Brian Comber, James Cooper, Michael Davis, Bruce Dean, John Durning, David Franz, Jonathan P. Gardner, Paul Geithner, Stuart Glazer, Thomas P Greene, Matthew A Greenhouse, Kong Quy Ha, Joseph M. Howard, Sandra Irish, Amir Jahromi, Bryan James, Alden Jurling, Ritva Keski-kuha, Jon Lawrence, Peiman Maghami, John Mather, Michael Menzel, Gary Mosier, William Ochs, Richard Ottens, Keith Parrish, Bernard Rauscher, Karen Richon, Thomas Roellig, Scott Rohrbach, Evan Sheehan, Erin Smith, Amber Straughn, Shaun Thomson, Julie Van Campen, Paul Whitehouse, and Thomas Zielinski
- Subjects
Astronomy ,Instrumentation and Photography - Abstract
This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.
- Published
- 2023
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