PREPRINT
1B80C363-ADB9-4B5B-8519-E4FB9184F5A6
Citizen Science Astronomy with a Network of Small Telescope: The Launch
and Deployment of JWST
R. A. Lambert, F. Marchis, F., J. Asencio, G. Blaclard, L. A. Sgro, J. D. Giorgini, P. Plavchan, T. White, A. Verveen, T. Goto, P. Kuossari, N. Sethu, M. A. Loose, S. Will, K. Sibbernsen, J. W. Pickering, J. Randolph, K. Fukui, P. Huet, B. Guillet, O. Clerget, S. Stahl, N. Yoblonsky, M. Lauvernier, T. Matsumura, M. Yamato, J. M. Laugier, O. Brodt-Vilain, A. Espudo, R. Kukita, S. Iida, S. Kardel, D. Green, P. Tikkanen, A. Douvas, M. Billiani, G. Knight, M. Ryno, G. Simard, R. Knight, M. Primm, B. Wildhagen, J. Poncet, T. Frachon, M. Shimizu, A. Jackson, B. Parker, G. Redfern, P. Nikiforov, E. Friday, K. Lincoln, J. Sweitzer, R. Mitsuoka, K. Cabral, A. Katterfeld, M. Fairfax
Abstract
We present a coordinated campaign of observations to monitor the brightness
of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as it travels toward the second
Earth-Sun Lagrange point and unfolds using the network ofUnistellar digital
telescopes. Those observations collected by citizen astronomers across the
world allowed us to detect specific phases such as the separation from the
booster, glare due to a change of orientation after a maneuver, the unfurling
of the sunshield, and deployment of the primary mirror. After deployment of the
sunshield on January 6 2022, the 6-h lightcurve has a significant amplitude and
shows small variations due to the artificial rotation of the space telescope
during commissionning. These variations could be due to the deployment of the
primary mirror or some changes in orientation of the space telescope. This work
illustrates the power of a worldwide array of small telescopes, operated by
citizen astronomers, to conduct large scientific campaigns over a long
timeframe. In the future, our network and others will continue to monitor JWST
to detect potential degradations to the space environment by comparing the
evolution of the lightcurve.Preprint
Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures and 2 tables, SPIE Ground-based and Airborne
Telescopes IX, AS22 SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 12182-144
Subjects: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.04337