Imaging instrument aboard the James Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam wrapped up in 2013NIRCam being installed in 2014
NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) is an instrument aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. It has two major tasks, as an imager from 0.6 to 5 μm wavelength, and as a wavefront sensor to keep the 18-section mirrors functioning as one.[1][2] In other words, it is a camera and is also used to provide information to align the 18 segments of the primary mirror.[3] It is an infrared camera with ten mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe) detector arrays, and each array has an array of 2048×2048 pixels.[1][2] The camera has a field of view of 2.2×2.2 arcminutes with an angular resolution of 0.07 arcseconds at 2 μm.[1] NIRCam is also equipped with coronagraphs, which helps to collect data on exoplanets near stars. It helps with imaging anything next to a much brighter object, because the coronagraph blocks that light.[2]
NIRCam is housed in the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), to which it is attached by struts.[3][4][5][6] It is designed to operate at 37 K (−236.2 °C; −393.1 °F), so it can detect infrared radiation at this wavelength.[3][7] It is connected to the ISIM by struts and thermal straps connect to heat radiators, which helps maintain its temperature.[3] The Focal Plane Electronics operated at 290 K.[3]
NIRCam should be able to observe objects as faint as magnitude +29 with a 10,000-second exposure (about 2.8 hours).[8] It makes these observations in light from 0.6 to 5 μm (600 to 5000 nm) wavelength.[4] It can observe in two fields of view, and either side can do imaging, or from the capabilities of the wave-front sensing equipment, spectroscopy.[9] The wavefront sensing is much finer than the thickness of an average human hair.[10] It must perform at an accuracy of at least 93 nanometers and in testing it has even achieved between 32 and 52 nm.[10] A human hair is thousands of nanometers across.[10]
^ abc"NIRCAM". Retrieved 5 December 2016.
^ abc"The James Webb Space Telescope". Retrieved 5 December 2016.
^ abcde"NIRCam Instrument Overview". NASA. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
^ ab"NIRCAM". Retrieved 6 December 2016.
^"The James Webb Space Telescope". Retrieved 6 December 2016.
^"Instruments and ISIM (Integrated Science Instrument Module) Webb/NASA". Archived from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
^"Detecting the Most Distant Supernova in the Universe" (PDF). Retrieved November 12, 2022.
^Greene, Thomas P.; Chu, Laurie; Egami, Eiichi; Hodapp, Klaus W.; Kelly, Douglas M.; Leisenring, Jarron; Rieke, Marcia; Robberto, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Stansberry, John (2016). "Slitless spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera (JWST NIRCam)". In MacEwen, Howard A; Fazio, Giovanni G; Lystrup, Makenzie; Batalha, Natalie; Siegler, Nicholas; Tong, Edward C (eds.). Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. Vol. 9904. pp. 99040E. arXiv:1606.04161. doi:10.1117/12.2231347. S2CID 119271990.
^ abc"Lockheed Martin Readies One of the Most Sensitive IR Instruments Ever Made for NASA Telescope". www.lockheedmartin.com. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) is an instrument aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. It has two major tasks, as an imager from 0.6 to 5 μm wavelength...
reached 120 K (−153 °C; −244 °F), NIRCam targeted the 6th magnitude star HD 84406 in Ursa Major. To do this, NIRCam took 1560 images of the sky and used...
normal to the grating. The dispersed wavefront sensing system (as part the NIRCam instrument) on the James Webb Space Telescope uses grisms. The system allows...
Hubble palette with 3nm filters The "Pillars of Creation" captured by JWST NIRCam Eagle Nebula ("Pillars" in circle; WISE; 11 November 2022 List of Messier...
6481 Tenzing, center, is seen moving against a background of stars in this series of images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope's instrument NIRCam....
Telescope captured a new image of the Pillars of Creation utilizing the NIRCam aboard the spacecraft. The image was able to capture ejections from the...
Retrieved 2022-07-08. "Two Views of the Gas in the Southern Ring Nebula (NIRCam and MIRI Composite Images)". October 18, 2023. Monreal-Ibero, Ana; Walsh...
captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam instrument on June 25, 2023. In this monochrome image, NIRCam filter F323N (3.23 microns) was color mapped...
The tests were very positive because NIRcam showed it was very stable through vibration and thermal testing. NIRcam was installed into ISIM in March 2014...
by a multiple exposure of images from the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam, showing an outer layer of hydrogen that is very faint in visible light...
UNCOVER-z13 the most distant galaxy instead. The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the JWST has imaged numerous other very early galaxies. In May 2023...
Galaxy JADES-GS-z6 in the GOODS-S field: JADES (NIRCam image) – James Webb Space Telescope GOODS-S field (NIRCam image), James Webb Space Telescope is already...
Fontanive, Clémence; Gelino, Christopher R.; Gizis, John E. (2023-03-29). "JWST/NIRCam Discovery of the First Y+Y Brown Dwarf Binary: WISE J033605.05–014350.4"...
Kashino, Daichi; Bordoloi, Rongmon; Lilly, Simon J. (2023). "EIGER. III. JWST/NIRCam Observations of the Ultraluminous High-redshift Quasar J0100+2802". The...
Instrument Module (ISIM). 4 July 2013: MIRI installed in ISIM. March 2014: NIRCam installed in ISIM 24–25 March 2014: NIRSpec integrated into ISIM. June 2014:...
October 2014). Pandora's Cluster observed by James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam as part of UNCOVER program (15 February 2023). The James Webb Space Telescope's...
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