NIRCam Archives

An artist’s rendering of the warm exoplanet WASP-80 b and an overview of its planet-system parameters. Planet image credit: NASA/Ames Research Center. astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

A Precise Metallicity and Carbon-to-Oxygen Ratio for a Warm Giant Exoplanet from its Panchromatic JWST Emission Spectrum

by Keith CowingJune 5, 2025June 5, 2025

WASP-80 b, a warm sub-Jovian (equilibrium temperature ~820 K, 0.5 Jupiter masses), presents an opportunity to characterize a rare gas giant exoplanet around a low-mass star.

Wolf 359 images from NIRCam (blue) and MIRI (red) before and after PSF subtraction. PSF subtraction was performed in order to improve the sensitivity to finding faint astrophysical sources near the star. The white circle represents an angular separation of 15 AU for the Wolf 359 system. The dark spots in the background of the PSF subtracted frames are due to positive sources in the reference star frames; this issue is expected to be mitigated in future analysis when additional reference stars are available. In the MIRI F2100W frames, an image artifact is present approximately 75 pixels above the center of the star. Future proper motion followup observations are needed to identify if uncataloged point sources are co-moving companions. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report

JWST MIRI Imaging Can Directly Detect Exoplanets Of The Same Temperature, Mass, Age, And Orbital Separation As Saturn And Jupiter

by Keith CowingMay 23, 2025May 23, 2025

NIRCam and MIRI coronagraphy have successfully demonstrated the ability to directly image young sub-Jupiter mass and mature gas-giant exoplanets.

Comparison between the F410M map (contours) and the DSHARP ALMA continuum map (colors) at λ = 1.3 mm (6"× 6" map in the left and 2" × 2" map in the right, respectively; Isella et al. 2018). The location of the source candidate is indicated by a black arrow. The magenta dots show the location of the ALMA velocity kinks. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

JWST/NIRCam Coronagraphic Search for Hidden Planets in the HD 163296 Protoplanetary Disk

by Keith CowingMarch 28, 2025March 28, 2025

HD 163296 is a Herbig Ae/Be star with multiple signposts of on-going planet formation on its disk, such as prominent rings and gaps, as well as kinematic features as identified […]

The black spectrum represents the best-fitting total emission spectrum of 55 Cancri e from our results.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Characterising the Atmosphere of 55 Cancri e: 1D Forward Model Grid for Current and Future JWST Observations

by Keith CowingMarch 26, 2025

Recent JWST observations with NIRCam and MIRI of the ultra-short-period super-Earth 55 Cancri e indicate a possible volatile atmosphere surrounding the planet. Previous analysis of the NIRCam spectra suggested potential […]

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided the clearest look in the infrared yet at the iconic multi-planet system HR 8799. The closest planet to the star, HR 8799 e, orbits 1.5 billion miles from its star, which in our solar system would be located between the orbit of Saturn and Neptune. The furthest, HR 8799 b, orbits around 6.3 billion miles from the star, more than twice Neptune’s orbital distance. Colors are applied to filters from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), revealing their intrinsic differences. A star symbol marks the location of the host star HR 8799, whose light has been blocked by the coronagraph. In this image, the color blue is assigned to 4.1 micron light, green to 4.3 micron light, and red to the 4.6 micron light. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, W. Balmer (JHU), L. Pueyo (STScI), M. Perrin (STScI)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Press Release

Webb Telescope Images Young and Giant Exoplanets, Detects Carbon Dioxide

by Keith CowingMarch 17, 2025March 17, 2025

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured direct images of multiple gas giant planets within an iconic planetary system. HR 8799, a young system 130 light-years away, has long been […]

This infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was taken by the onboard Near-Infrared Camera for the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, program. The NIRCam data was used to determine which galaxies to study further with spectroscopic observations. One such galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0 (shown in the pullout), was determined to be at a redshift of 14.3, making it the current record-holder for most distant known galaxy. This corresponds to a time less than 300 million years after the big bang. -- NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona), Daniel Eisenstein (CfA), Phill Cargile (CfA)

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Unexpected Complex Chemistry In A Primordial Galaxy

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2025March 12, 2025

University of Arizona astronomers have learned more about a surprisingly mature galaxy that existed when the universe was just less than 300 million years old – just 2% of its […]

Left: color composite image of 114–426 using the F115W and F140M (both blue), F162M (green), F182M (yellow–green), and F277W (red) bands. Each of the four SW channel images (F115W, F140M, F162M, and F182M) were interpolated onto a 3 × 3 pixel subgrid (i.e., roughly 10 mas pixel−1) to allow precise alignment, and the LW channel image (F277W) was resampled to match. Right: an image of 114–426 in the F187N band, again interpolated onto a 3 × 3 pixel subgrid, showing the silhouette disk in maximum contrast against the Paα line. Each panel is 35 × 35 with north up and east left. The intensity of each image was scaled logarithmically to compress the dynamic range and enhance fainter details. -- The Astrophysical Journal

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Water Ice in the Edge-on Orion Silhouette Disk 114–426 from JWST NIRCam Images

by Keith CowingFebruary 23, 2025February 23, 2025

We examine images of the protoplanetary disk 114–426 with JWST/NIRCam in 12 bands. This large disk is oriented edge on with a dark midplane flanked by lobes of scattered light.

JWST/NIRCam F335M image of 30 Dor. The blue box represents the field of view of the MIRI/MRS Channel 1. The inset shows the spectroscopic FOVs: NIRSpec (green), MIRI/MRS Channel 1 (blue), MIRI/MRS Channel 2 (pink), and MIRI/MRS Channel 3 (yellow). -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

A Study of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission in 30 Dor as seen by JWST

by Keith CowingOctober 29, 2024October 29, 2024

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are responsible for strong mid-IR emission features near star-forming regions. It is well known that low-metallicity environments exhibit weaker PAH emission, but it is not clear […]

NIRCam sub-array PCA reduction at F444W shows 2 sources: S1 and S2 are both extended. Two different stretches of the reduced image are superimposed to emphasize the sources; the colorbar is applicable to the inner region only. Details of the analysis are presented in the Appendix. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Searching for Planets Orbiting Vega with the James Webb Space Telescope

by Keith CowingOctober 23, 2024October 23, 2024

The most prominent of the IRAS debris disk systems, α Lyrae (Vega), at a distance of 7.7 pc, has been observed by both the NIRCam and MIRI instruments on the […]

The known exoplanet population, Solar System planets are marked using their respective symbols. This survey provides unique access to the atmospheres of the wide-separation sub-Jupiter population, as well probing their formation and evolution through the time domain. Existing observatories struggle to push below ∼a few MJup. The E-ELT METIS sensitivity assumes a 10 Myr target at 50 pc. Wide-separation planets detected by NGRST will not be amenable to followup characterisation. Example survey is constructed from targets in Taurus Auriga (∼2 Myr), Chamaeleon (∼5 Myr), TW Hya (∼10 Myr), β Pictoris (∼26 Myr), and Oceanus (∼500 Myr), others could be considered. The top 25 targets do not provide all of the sensitivity below the 10% contour (for example) - a large survey is required to obtain multiple sub-Jupiter detections. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Investing in the Unrivaled Potential of Wide-Separation Sub-Jupiter Exoplanet Detection and Characterisation with JWST — Strategic Exoplanet Initiatives with HST and JWST White Paper

by Keith CowingAugust 17, 2024August 17, 2024

We advocate for a large scale imaging survey of nearby young moving groups and star-forming regions to directly detect exoplanets over an unexplored range of masses, ages and orbits. Discovered […]

NIRCam

A Precise Metallicity and Carbon-to-Oxygen Ratio for a Warm Giant Exoplanet from its Panchromatic JWST Emission Spectrum

JWST MIRI Imaging Can Directly Detect Exoplanets Of The Same Temperature, Mass, Age, And Orbital Separation As Saturn And Jupiter

JWST/NIRCam Coronagraphic Search for Hidden Planets in the HD 163296 Protoplanetary Disk

Characterising the Atmosphere of 55 Cancri e: 1D Forward Model Grid for Current and Future JWST Observations

Webb Telescope Images Young and Giant Exoplanets, Detects Carbon Dioxide

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Unexpected Complex Chemistry In A Primordial Galaxy

Water Ice in the Edge-on Orion Silhouette Disk 114–426 from JWST NIRCam Images

A Study of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission in 30 Dor as seen by JWST

Searching for Planets Orbiting Vega with the James Webb Space Telescope

Investing in the Unrivaled Potential of Wide-Separation Sub-Jupiter Exoplanet Detection and Characterisation with JWST — Strategic Exoplanet Initiatives with HST and JWST White Paper

COSPAR Panel On Planetary Protection Endorses Proposed Update To The Mars Planetary Protection Policy

Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer Astrobiology Droid Completes Earth Flyby

Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument Activated – Coronagraph Checked Out

Nonequilibrium Formation of C4 Carbonyls in Interstellar Ices Linked to Amino Acids

The North Pole Of Mars Is Less Dusty Than Scientists Thought