Canadian participation in JWST

 

  

     

The James Webb Space Telescope is proceeding into detailed design with all its partners, with launch date set at August 2011. During the past year, the primary mirror was scaled to 25 square metres area with an 18 segment beryllium design. The instruments have been reconfigured and all teams are in place. Canada is providing a large instrument box  (FGS, or Fine Guidance System) for guiding and narrow band imaging. The two separate packages within are known as FGS-guider and FGS-TF. The guider images two adjacent and independent 2.3’ fields, to provide redundant capability of guiding with 4.9mas precision and 16Hz update rrate, with 95% probability anywhere in the sky.  The TF (Tunable Filter) side views another 2.3’ field which uses a beam-splitter to allow simultaneous imaging in filters in the ranges approximately 1 to 2 microns and 2 to 4.8 microns. The filters are tunable etalons, which provide spectral resolution close to 100. There are also coronagraphic capabilities in both these channels.

The TFs will allow emission line searches at any redshift, or spatially resolved spectra of all objects in the fields, by scanning. The other instruments are NIRCAM (by a US team), NIRSPEC (ESA team), and MIRI (joint US and European team). The telescope will be built by Northrup Grumman, and the launch vehicle is ESA’s Ariane V. The JWST will be launched into an L2 orbit, with 5-10 year lifetime.

In addition to providing the FGS instrument package, Canada has scientists in the NIRCAM and NIRSPEC teams, and is providing two operations scientists at the STScI.

The FGS has completed its phase A design work and the CSA contract for the final design and build of flights units will begin late this summer.

JWST will provide unique and very powerful capability in wavelengths from 0.6 to 28 microns, and Canadian scientists and engineers are participating fully in designing and planning the observatory. The diagrams show the telescope, and some details of the instrumental layout.

John Hutchings
 
JWST focal plane and instrument footprints.