James Webb Space Telescope Weekly Schedule Sep 12, 2022 to Sep 19, 2022

September 11, 2022


Last week James Webb Telescope gathered data observing a young stellar object DG Tauri B, WD 0145+234 a white dwarf star, planet Mars, M17 also known as the Omega Nebula or Swan Nebula, 617 Patroclus a large binary Jupiter trojan asteroid, LP 944-20, a failed Star or brown dwarf. For more details regarding these observations, check out last week's schedule here. This week, James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe High-redshift galaxies such as 133-GS-3.47-A, 539-GS-4.76-A, 551-GS-3.70-A, Brown dwarfs WISEJ0359-54, J050305.68-564834.0, dwarf planet Pluto, Asteroid Sedna and NCG 104 amongst other objects. Following are the major objects that James Webb Space Telescope will study this week (Sep 12 to Sep 19, 2022) as per the schedule published here. File Link, Link

SPT0311-58 - Artist's conception -  Credit: Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Dagnello (NRAO)

SPT0311-58 is a galaxy nearly 12.9 billion light-years from Earth. In the previous observations, Astronomers at the ALMA network of radio telescopes have detected the presence of water along with carbon monoxide in this galaxy. SPT0311-58 is actually made up of two galaxies, and was first seen by ALMA scientists in 2017. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe SPT0311-58 on Sep 13, 2022.

Sedna - Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Sedna, a dwarf planet is a distant trans-Neptunian object best known for its highly elliptical, 11,400 year long orbit. In 2022, it is three times farther than Neptune is from the sun. Discovered in 2003 by Caltech astronomer Mike Brown and his team, and was one of a series of potential dwarf planets (alongside similar-sized bodies like Haumea, Makemake, and Eris) whose discovery led to the demotion of Pluto in 2006. Sedna is extremely far from the sun, in the coldest known region of our solar system, where temperatures never rise above minus 240 degrees Celsius (minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit). The planetoid is usually even colder, because it approaches the sun only briefly during its 11,400- year solar orbit. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe Sedna on Sep 13, 2022.

Pluto and Charon - Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

This combined image of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), was taken by NASA's New Horizon spacecraft during its flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015. This picture features the striking distinctions among Pluto and Charon. They are two icy worlds that spins around their common center of gravity like a pair of figure skaters clasping hands. Pluto's surface is covered by a high-contrast array of bright and dark features whereas on Charon, only a dark polar region interrupts a generally more uniform light gray terrain. The reddish materials that color Pluto are absent on Charon. Pluto has a significant atmosphere; Charon does not. On Pluto, frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide have been detected in previous observations, while Charon’s surface is found to have frozen water and ammonia compounds. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to observe Pluto and Charon on Sep 14, 2022.

NGC 104 - Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Known as jewel of the southern sky, NGC 104, is the second brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet Earth. Located at a distance of approximately 13,000 light-years away from earth, it can be spotted naked-eye close on the sky to the Small Magellanic Cloud in the constellation of the Toucan. This cluster is made up of hundreds of thousands of stars compacted within 120 light-years across. Red giant stars on the outskirts of the cluster can be easily spotted as yellowish stars in this image. James Webb Telescope is scheduled to NGC 104 on Sep 15, 2022.