JWST/NIRCam Coronagraphy: Commissioning and First On-Sky Results
Julien H. Girard, Jarron Leisenring, Jens Kammerer, Mario Gennaro,, Marcia Rieke, John Stansberry, Armin Rest, Eiichi Egami, Ben Sunnquist,, Martha Boyer, Alicia Canipe, Matteo Correnti, Bryan Hilbert, Marshall D., Perrin, Laurent Pueyo, Remi Soummer, Marsha Allen

TL;DR
This paper reports on the commissioning and initial on-sky performance of JWST's NIRCam coronagraphy mode, demonstrating its ability to detect faint objects near bright sources and comparing real data with simulations.
Contribution
It presents the first on-sky results of JWST's NIRCam coronagraphy, including performance verification and successful detection of a faint white dwarf companion.
Findings
Successful detection of HD 114174 B at 3.35μm with high contrast
Achievement of excellent coronagraphic suppression performance
Effective target acquisition with all five NIRCam masks
Abstract
In a cold and stable space environment, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or "Webb") reaches unprecedented sensitivities at wavelengths beyond 2 microns, serving most fields of astrophysics. It also extends the parameter space of high-contrast imaging in the near and mid-infrared. Launched in late 2021, JWST underwent a six month commissioning period. In this contribution we focus on the NIRCam Coronagraphy mode which was declared "science ready" on July 10 2022, the last of the 17 JWST observing modes. Essentially, this mode will allow to detect fainter/redder/colder (less massive for a given age) self-luminous exoplanets as well as other faint astrophysical signal in the vicinity of any bright object (stars or galaxies). Here we describe some of the steps and hurdles the commissioning team went through to achieve excellent performances. Specifically, we focus on the Coronagraphic…
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Taxonomy
TopicsStellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Astronomy and Astrophysical Research · Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
