James Webb Space Telescope Weekly Schedule Oct 03, 2022 to Oct 10, 2022

October 09, 2022


Last week James Webb Telescope observed several objects including Trapezium Cluster, a protoplanetary disk around the young star MWC 758, Asteroid Pallas and Galaxy NGC-2403. For more details regarding these observations, check out last week's schedule here. This week, James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe AU Microscopii one of the youngest planetary systems ever observed by astronomers, Pleiades or Seven Sisters/M45 an open star cluster, Comet Hale-Bopp, Pluto/Chron,  star HD 44179 among other objects. Following are the major objects that James Webb Space Telescope will study this week (Oct 03 to Oct 10, 2022) as per the schedule published here. File Link

AU MicroscopiiCredit:  NASA

AU Microscopii, one of the newest planet systems ever discovered by astronomers and less than 32 light-years from Earth, has a star that has violent outbursts. Planet AU Mic b is imprisoned inside a looming disk of ghostly dust by this malevolent young system, which relentlessly tortures it with lethal X-ray and other radiation bursts to prevent the possibility of life as we know it! Beware! The stellar wrath of this system is unavoidable. The terrifying flashes of AU Mic will make you wish for never-ending night. A gas giant exoplanet called AU Microscopii b orbits the young M-type star. It has a mass of 0.18 Jupiters, an orbital period of 8.5 days, and a distance from its star of 0.066 AU. In 2020, news of its finding was released.  James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe AU Microscopii on October 03, 2022.

Pleiades - Credit: Credits: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: George Herbig and Theodore Simon (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii)

The Pleiades, also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45, and other names by other civilizations, is an asterism and an open star cluster in the northwest of the constellation Taurus that is made up of hot, middle-aged B-type stars. It is one of the closest star clusters to Earth at a distance of roughly 444 light years. Hot blue bright stars that developed during the last 100 million years make up the majority of the cluster. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Pleiades are a prominent wintertime sight that may be seen all the way down to mid-Southern latitudes. They have been well-known to societies all throughout the world since antiquity. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe Pleiades on October 05, 2022.

Hale Bopp Comet - Credit: Credit: H.A. Weaver (Applied Research Corp.), P.D. Feldman (The Johns Hopkins University), and NASA/ESA

Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp independently found Comet Hale-Bopp on July 23, 1995. Astonishingly, Hale-Bopp was found at a distance of 7.15 AU. One AU is roughly 150 million kilometers (93 million miles). Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), also known as the Great Comet of 1997, is a sizable comet with a nucleus that is around 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. This is around five times bigger than the thing that most think killed off the dinosaurs. This comet was large enough to be seen with the unaided eye for 18 months between 1996 and 1997. For Hale-Bopp to complete one circle of the sun, it takes around 2,534 years. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe Hale Bopp on October 06, 2022.

HD 44179 - Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA

The Red Rectangle, an unusual formation, surrounds the star HD 44179. Because of its shape and apparent hue in early Earth pictures, it was given this name. This incredibly detailed Hubble image shows how, as seen from space, the nebula is formed like an X with additional complicated structures of spaced lines of incandescent gas, almost resembling the rungs of a ladder, rather than being rectangular. A proto-planetary nebula, often known as the Red Rectangle, is a unique example of this type of nebula. These are aging stars that are transitioning into planetary nebulae. About 2,300 light-years away, in the constellation Monoceros, is where you may find the Red Rectangle. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe HD 44179 on October 10, 2022.