The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has announced its Cycle 3 astronomy proposals, revealing the exciting projects that will be undertaken over the next two years. The Space Telescope Science Institute has selected 253 General Observers (GO) programs that will utilize the JWST for a total of 5,500 hours between July 2024 and June 2025. This cycle will build upon the scientific advancements made by the $10 billion telescope since it began transmitting data in 2022.
Cycle 3 will focus on a range of targets, including potential exomoons, exoplanets and their atmospheres, supermassive black holes, and distant galaxies from the early universe. One of the teams fortunate enough to secure time with the JWST is searching for exomoons, or moons that orbit exoplanets. David Kipping, an assistant professor of astronomy at Columbia University, expressed his excitement about their proposal being accepted, stating that they have the best target yet for moon hunting: the exoplanet Kepler-167e. Exomoons have proven elusive for astronomers due to the difficulty in detecting them using the same technique employed to spot exoplanets. However, Kipping and his team hope to make the first undisputed detection of an exomoon by focusing on Kepler-167e with the JWST’s Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS).
In addition to exomoons, several projects in Cycle 3 aim to determine whether exoplanets have the conditions necessary to support life. One such project, “Constraining the atmosphere of the terrestrial exoplanet TOI-4481b,” will use the JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to study a Jupiter-mass exoplanet located 39 light-years away. Understanding the habitability of rocky planets and whether red dwarfs have terrestrial planets with significant atmospheres is crucial in the search for extraterrestrial life, as red dwarfs are the most common stars in the Milky Way.
Cycle 3 will also contribute to our knowledge of supermassive black holes. Astronomers believe that most large galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers, and the JWST will investigate quasars in the early universe and the nature of the first black holes. By studying these cosmic phenomena, scientists hope to understand how supermassive black holes influenced the growth of galaxies over billions of years. The observations of supermassive black holes in the early universe could also reveal how these cosmic titans grew to their tremendous masses before the universe was even 1 billion years old.
The JWST’s primary role is to investigate objects in the early universe, as its capabilities allow it to observe infrared light that has been redshifted due to the expansion of the universe. Cycle 3 will continue to explore the first stars and earliest galaxies, with projects focusing on the epoch of reionization, which occurred around 500 million years after the Big Bang. During this period, neutral atoms of hydrogen were ionized by radiation, and studying high-redshift galaxies can provide insights into this crucial stage in cosmic evolution.
In addition to these exciting projects, Cycle 3 will also involve studying distant stars to better understand stellar physics and populations, examining interstellar gas that can become the building blocks of stars and planets, and investigating bodies within our own solar system, such as Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Uranus’ rings.
Looking ahead, the call for Cycle 4 GO proposals will be issued on August 1, 2024, with a deadline set for October 16 of the same year. The Cycle 4 Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) review will take place between February 3 and February 12, 2025, with selections revealed around March 5. JWST Cycle 4 GO programs will then commence observations on July 1, 2025.
The James Webb Space Telescope continues to push the boundaries of astronomical research, offering unprecedented insights into the universe’s mysteries. With its Cycle 3 proposals now announced, scientists and astronomers eagerly anticipate the groundbreaking discoveries that lie ahead.
