Science with the James Webb space telescope

Jonathan P. Gardner; John C. Mather; Mark Clampin; Rene Doyon; Matthew A. Greenhouse; Heidi B. Hammel; John B. Hutchings; Peter Jakobsen; Simon J. Lilly; Knox S. Long; Jonathan I. Lunine; Mark J. McCaughrean; Matt Mountain; John Nella; George H. Rieke; Marcia J. Rieke; Hans-Walter Rix; Eric P. Smith; George Sonneborn; Massimo Stiavelli; H. S. Stockman; Rogier A. Windhorst; Gillian S. Wright

doi:10.1117/12.670492

6 July 2006 Science with the James Webb space telescope

Jonathan P. Gardner, John C. Mather, Mark Clampin, Rene Doyon, Matthew A. Greenhouse, Heidi B. Hammel, John B. Hutchings, Peter Jakobsen, Simon J. Lilly, Knox S. Long, Jonathan I. Lunine, Mark J. McCaughrean, Matt Mountain, John Nella, George H. Rieke, Marcia J. Rieke, Hans-Walter Rix, Eric P. Smith, George Sonneborn, Massimo Stiavelli, H. S. Stockman, Rogier A. Windhorst, Gillian S. Wright

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6265, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation I: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter; 62650N (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.670492
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

The scientific capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) fall into four themes. The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization theme seeks to identify the first luminous sources to form and to determine the ionization history of the universe. The Assembly of Galaxies theme seeks to determine how galaxies and the dark matter, gas, stars, metals, morphological structures, and active nuclei within them evolved from the epoch of reionization to the present. The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems theme seeks to unravel the birth and early evolution of stars, from infall onto dust-enshrouded protostars, to the genesis of planetary systems. Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life theme seeks to determine the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems around nearby stars and of our own, and investigate the potential for life in those systems. To enable these for science themes, JWST will be a large (6.5m) cold (50K) telescope with four instruments, capable of imaging and spectroscopy from 0.6 to 29 microns wavelength.

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Jonathan P. Gardner, John C. Mather, Mark Clampin, Rene Doyon, Matthew A. Greenhouse, Heidi B. Hammel, John B. Hutchings, Peter Jakobsen, Simon J. Lilly, Knox S. Long, Jonathan I. Lunine, Mark J. McCaughrean, Matt Mountain, John Nella, George H. Rieke, Marcia J. Rieke, Hans-Walter Rix, Eric P. Smith, George Sonneborn, Massimo Stiavelli, H. S. Stockman, Rogier A. Windhorst, and Gillian S. Wright "Science with the James Webb space telescope", Proc. SPIE 6265, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation I: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter, 62650N (6 July 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.670492

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