James Webb Space Telescope Weekly Schedule Oct 17, 2022 to Oct 24, 2022

October 17, 2022


Last week James Webb Telescope observed several objects including asteroid Phaethon, another asteroid with rings called Chariklo, NGC 346, NGC 2023, Epithemeus, a potato shaped moon. For more details regarding these observations, check out last week's schedule here. This week, James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe Cigar Galaxy or M82, SH2-284, Galaxy SPT0346-52, 51 Eridani and its planet 51 Eridani b, Galaxy cluster Abell 2744, Fomalhaut, NGC-7172 among other objects. Following are the major objects that James Webb Space Telescope will study this week (Oct 17 to Oct 24, 2022) as per the schedule published here. File Link

M 82 - The Cigar Galaxy -  Credit: NASA, ESA, (STScI/AURA)

M82, a galaxy 12 million light-years from Earth, is seen high in the northern spring sky near the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Due to the elliptical form that is created by the oblique tilt of its starry disk with respect to our line of sight, it is also known as the "Cigar Galaxy." Young stars are forming in the galaxy's core at a rate that is ten times faster than that of the Milky Way Galaxy as a whole. the massive young star formation that resulted sliced into the gas and dust at the galaxy's core. These stars produce a powerful cosmic superwind that compresses enough gas to create millions of more stars. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe M 82 on October 18, 2022.

SH2-284 - Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

The Sh2-284 nebula is a relatively solitary object located near the very tip of one of our Milky Way galaxy's outer spiral arms. It can be found in the night sky in the opposite direction from the Milky Way's nucleus.  The "elephant trunks" that astronomers refer to as being present in Sh2-284 may be the most intriguing aspects. Elephant trunks are enormous, gas- and dust-filled pillars. The trunks are seen in this WISE image as tiny columns of gas that extend into Sh2-center, 284's void's resembling little green fingers with yellow fingernails. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe SH2-284 on October 19, 2022.

SPT 0346-52 - Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Florida/J.Ma et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Radio: ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/ALMA;

SPT0346-52 galaxy is 12.7 billion light years away from Earth. This indicates that astronomers are witnessing it roughly a billion years after the Big Bang, at a crucial point in the evolution of galaxies.

When observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) revealed unusually intense infrared emission from this galaxy, astronomers were interested in SPT0346-52. This suggested that there is a massive star birth explosion taking place in the cosmos. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe SPT 0346-52 on October 19, 2022.

51 Eridani b - Credit: Jason Wang (Caltech)/Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey

51 Eridani is a star located in the constellation Eridanus. It is only faintly visible to the unaided eye in suburban and rural sky due to its apparent magnitude of 5.22. The absolute magnitude of the main star is 2.87. It is a triple star system because it is joined by the binary star GJ 3305, which has the same proper velocity across space as it. A "Jupiter-like" planet called 51 Eridani b orbits the young star 51 Eridani in the Eridanus constellation. It is about 20 million years old, 96 light years away from our solar system. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe 51 Eridani and its planet on October 20, 2022.

Fomalhaut - Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Kalas and J. Graham (University of California, Berkeley) and M. Clampin (NASA/GSFC)

One of the brightest stars in the night sky is Fomalhaut, which is also the brightest star in the southern constellation of Piscis Austrinus, also known as the "Southern Fish". Its Latinized name Piscis Austrini bears the Bayer designation Alpha Piscis Austrini, sometimes known as Alpha PsA or PsA. The Hipparcos astrometry satellite determined that this star, which is a class A star on the main sequence, is located around 25 light-years (7.7 pc) from the Sun. This star's spectrum has been one of the reliable reference points for other stars' classification since 1943. The potential extrasolar planet Fomalhaut b, later known as Dagon, was the first star system to be observed at visual wavelengths. . James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe Formalhaut on October 22, 2022.