NASA - James Webb Space Telescope - Updates Thread

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-reveals-an-exoplanet-atmosphere-as-never-seen-before

Nov 22, 2022

NASA’s Webb Reveals an Exoplanet Atmosphere as Never Seen Before
Lee esta historia en español aquí.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope just scored another first: a molecular and chemical profile of a distant world’s skies.

While Webb and other space telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer, previously have revealed isolated ingredients of this broiling planet’s atmosphere, the new readings from Webb provide a full menu of atoms, molecules, and even signs of active chemistry and clouds.

The latest data also gives a hint of how these clouds might look up close: broken up rather than a single, uniform blanket over the planet.

The telescope’s array of highly sensitive instruments was trained on the atmosphere of WASP-39 b, a “hot Saturn” (a planet about as massive as Saturn but in an orbit tighter than Mercury) orbiting a star some 700 light-years away.

The findings bode well for the capability of Webb’s instruments to conduct the broad range of investigations of all types of exoplanets – planets around other stars – hoped for by the science community. That includes probing the atmospheres of smaller, rocky planets like those in the TRAPPIST-1 system.

“We observed the exoplanet with multiple instruments that, together, provide a broad swath of the infrared spectrum and a panoply of chemical fingerprints inaccessible until [this mission],” said Natalie Batalha, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who contributed to and helped coordinate the new research. “Data like these are a game changer.”

The suite of discoveries is detailed in a set of five new scientific papers, three of which are in press and two of which are under review. Among the unprecedented revelations is the first detection in an exoplanet atmosphere of sulfur dioxide (SO2), a molecule produced from chemical reactions triggered by high-energy light from the planet’s parent star. On Earth, the protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere is created in a similar way.

“This is the first time we see concrete evidence of photochemistry – chemical reactions initiated by energetic stellar light – on exoplanets,” said Shang-Min Tsai, a researcher at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and lead author of the paper explaining the origin of sulfur dioxide in WASP-39 b’s atmosphere. “I see this as a really promising outlook for advancing our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres with [this mission].”

This led to another first: scientists applying computer models of photochemistry to data that requires such physics to be fully explained. The resulting improvements in modeling will help build the technological know-how to interpret potential signs of habitability in the future.

“Planets are sculpted and transformed by orbiting within the radiation bath of the host star,” Batalha said. “On Earth, those transformations allow life to thrive.”

The planet’s proximity to its host star – eight times closer than Mercury is to our Sun – also makes it a laboratory for studying the effects of radiation from host stars on exoplanets. Better knowledge of the star-planet connection should bring a deeper understanding of how these processes affect the diversity of planets observed in the galaxy.

To see light from WASP-39 b, Webb tracked the planet as it passed in front of its star, allowing some of the star’s light to filter through the planet’s atmosphere. Different types of chemicals in the atmosphere absorb different colors of the starlight spectrum, so the colors that are missing tell astronomers which molecules are present. By viewing the universe in infrared light, Webb can pick up chemical fingerprints that can’t be detected in visible light.

Other atmospheric constituents detected by the Webb telescope include sodium (Na), potassium (K), and water vapor (H2O), confirming previous space and ground-based telescope observations as well as finding additional fingerprints of water, at these longer wavelengths, that haven’t been seen before.

Webb also saw carbon dioxide (CO2) at higher resolution, providing twice as much data as reported from its previous observations. Meanwhile, carbon monoxide (CO) was detected, but obvious signatures of both methane (CH4) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) were absent from the Webb data. If present, these molecules occur at very low levels.

To capture this broad spectrum of WASP-39 b’s atmosphere, an international team numbering in the hundreds independently analyzed data from four of the Webb telescope’s finely calibrated instrument modes.


“We had predicted what [the telescope] would show us, but it was more precise, more diverse, and more beautiful than I actually believed it would be,” said Hannah Wakeford, an astrophysicist at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom who investigates exoplanet atmospheres.

Having such a complete roster of chemical ingredients in an exoplanet atmosphere also gives scientists a glimpse of the abundance of different elements in relation to each other, such as carbon-to-oxygen or potassium-to-oxygen ratios. That, in turn, provides insight into how this planet – and perhaps others – formed out of the disk of gas and dust surrounding the parent star in its younger years.

WASP-39 b’s chemical inventory suggests a history of smashups and mergers of smaller bodies called planetesimals to create an eventual goliath of a planet.

“The abundance of sulfur [relative to] hydrogen indicated that the planet presumably experienced significant accretion of planetesimals that can deliver [these ingredients] to the atmosphere,” said Kazumasa Ohno, a UC Santa Cruz exoplanet researcher who worked on Webb data. “The data also indicates that the oxygen is a lot more abundant than the carbon in the atmosphere. This potentially indicates that WASP-39 b originally formed far away from the central star.”

In so precisely parsing an exoplanet atmosphere, the Webb telescope’s instruments performed well beyond scientists’ expectations – and promise a new phase of exploration among the broad variety of exoplanets in the galaxy.

“We are going to be able to see the big picture of exoplanet atmospheres,” said Laura Flagg, a researcher at Cornell University and a member of the international team. “It is incredibly exciting to know that everything is going to be rewritten. That is one of the best parts of being a scientist.”

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Media Contacts:

Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
[email protected]

Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
[email protected]

Last Updated: Nov 22, 2022
Editor: Jamie Adkins

Graphic caption:

An infographic titled "Hot Gas Giant Exoplanet Wasp-39 B Atmosphere Compositions" that shows four graphs from Webb's different instruments.
The atmospheric composition of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-39 b has been revealed by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. This graphic shows four transmission spectra from three of Webb’s instruments operated in four instrument modes. At upper left, data from NIRISS shows fingerprints of potassium (K), water (H2O), and carbon monoxide (CO). At upper right, data from NIRCam shows a prominent water signature. At lower left, data from NIRSpec indicates water, sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and carbon monoxide (CO). At lower right, additional NIRSpec data reveals all of these molecules as well as sodium (Na).
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI)

[Star One]

NASA Webb Micrometeoroid Mitigation Update

Micrometeoroid strikes are an unavoidable aspect of operating any spacecraft. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was engineered to withstand continual bombardment from these dust-sized particles moving at extreme velocities, to continue to generate groundbreaking science far into the future.

“We have experienced 14 measurable micrometeoroid hits on our primary mirror, and are averaging one to two per month, as anticipated. The resulting optical errors from all but one of these were well within what we had budgeted and expected when building the observatory,” said Mike Menzel, Webb lead mission systems engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “One of these was higher than our expectations and prelaunch models; however, even after this event our current optical performance is still twice as good as our requirements.”

To ensure all parts of the observatory continue to perform at their best, NASA convened a working group of optics and micrometeoroid experts from NASA Goddard‘s Webb team, the telescope’s mirror manufacturer, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. After thorough analysis, the team concluded the higher-energy impact observed in May was a rare statistical event both in terms of energy, and in hitting a particularly sensitive location on Webb’s primary mirror. To minimize future impacts of this magnitude, the team has decided that future observations will be planned to face away from what is now known as the ‘micrometeoroid avoidance zone.’

“Micrometeoroids that strike the mirror head on (moving opposite the direction the telescope is moving) have twice the relative velocity and four times the kinetic energy, so avoiding this direction when feasible will help extend the exquisite optical performance for decades,” said Lee Feinberg, Webb optical telescope element manager at NASA Goddard. This does not mean that these areas of the sky cannot be observed, only that observations of those objects will be more safely made at a different time in the year when Webb is in a different location in its orbit. Observations that are time critical, such as solar system targets, will still be done in the micrometeoroid avoidance zone if required. This adjustment to how Webb observations are scheduled will have a long-term statistical benefit.

The team will implement the micrometeoroid avoidance zone starting with Webb’s second year of science, or “Cycle 2.” More information and guidance for Cycle 2 is available on JWST Observer News.

-Thaddeus Cesari, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/11/15/nasa-webb-micrometeoroid-mitigation-update/

[jacqmans]

Webb tracks clouds on Saturn’s moon Titan
02/12/2022

These are images of Saturn’s moon Titan, captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument on 4 November 2022. The image on the left uses a filter sensitive to Titan’s lower atmosphere. The bright spots are prominent clouds in the northern hemisphere. The image on the right is a color composite image. Click here for an annotated version of this image.

Titan is the only moon in the Solar System with a dense atmosphere, and it is also the only planetary body other than Earth that currently has rivers, lakes, and seas. Unlike Earth, however, the liquid on Titan’s surface is composed of hydrocarbons including methane and ethane, not water. Its atmosphere is filled with thick haze that obscures visible light reflecting off the surface.

Scientists have waited for years to use Webb’s infrared vision to study Titan’s atmosphere, including its fascinating weather patterns and gaseous composition, and also see through the haze to study albedo features (bright and dark patches) on the surface. Further Titan data are expected from NIRCam and NIRSpec as well as the first data from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) in May or June of 2023. The MIRI data will reveal an even greater part of Titan’s spectrum, including some wavelengths that have never before been seen. This will give scientists information about the complex gases in Titan’s atmosphere, as well as crucial clues to deciphering why Titan is the only moon in the Solar System with a dense atmosphere.

[Image Description: Side-by-side images of Saturn’s moon Titan, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera on 4 November 2022, with clouds and other features visible. Left image is various shades of red. Right image is shades of white, blue, and brown.]

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/12/Webb_tracks_clouds_on_Saturn_s_moon_Titan

[jacqmans]

Pillars of Creation (NIRCam and MIRI composite image)
01/12/2022

By combining images of the iconic Pillars of Creation from two cameras aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, the Universe has been framed in its infrared glory. Webb’s near-infrared image was fused with its mid-infrared image, setting this star-forming region ablaze with new details.

Myriad stars are spread throughout the scene. The stars primarily show up in near-infrared light, marking a contribution of Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). Near-infrared light also reveals thousands of newly formed stars – look for bright orange spheres that lie just outside the dusty pillars.

In mid-infrared light, the dust is on full display. The contributions from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) are most apparent in the layers of diffuse, orange dust that drape the top of the image, relaxing into a V. The densest regions of dust are cast in deep indigo hues, obscuring our view of the activities inside the dense pillars.

Dust also makes up the spire-like pillars that extend from the bottom left to the top right. This is one of the reasons why the region is overflowing with stars – dust is a major ingredient of star formation. When knots of gas and dust with sufficient mass form in the pillars, they begin to collapse under their own gravitational attraction, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars. Newly formed stars are especially apparent at the edges of the top two pillars – they are practically bursting onto the scene.

At the top edge of the second pillar, undulating detail in red hints at even more embedded stars. These are even younger, and are quite active as they form. The lava-like regions capture their periodic ejections. As stars form, they periodically send out supersonic jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years.

Almost everything you see in this scene is local. The distant universe is largely blocked from our view both by the interstellar medium, which is made up of sparse gas and dust located between the stars, and a thick dust lane in our Milky Way galaxy. As a result, the stars take center stage in Webb’s view of the Pillars of Creation.

The Pillars of Creation is a small region within the vast Eagle Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years away.

Revisit Webb’s near-infrared image and its its mid-infrared image. The Pillars of Creation was made famous by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, and again in 2014.

MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.

Webb’s NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center.

[Image Description: Semi-opaque layers of blue, purple, and grey gas and dust start at the bottom left and rise toward the top right. There are three prominent pillars. The left pillar is the largest and widest. The background is orange near the top and dark blue and purple near the bottom. Some blue and white stars dot the overall scene.]

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/12/Pillars_of_Creation_NIRCam_and_MIRI_composite_image

[Star One]

James Webb Space Telescope and Keck Observatory spy Saturn’s moon Titan:

[Star One]

Red Spiral Galaxies at Cosmic Noon Unveiled in the First JWST Image

Abstract
In the first image of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of SMACS J0723.3-7327, one of the most outstanding features is the emergence of a large number of red spiral galaxies, because such red spiral galaxies are only a few percent in the number fraction among nearby spiral galaxies. While these apparently red galaxies were already detected with the Spitzer Space Telescope at ∼3–4 μm, the revolutionized view from the JWST's unprecedented spatial resolution has unveiled their hidden spiral morphology for the first time. Within the red spiral galaxies, we focus on the two reddest galaxies that are very faint in the <0.9 μm bands and show red colors in the 2–4 μm bands. Our study finds that the two extremely red spiral galaxies are likely to be in the cosmic noon (1 < z < 3). One of the extremely red spiral galaxies is more likely to be a passive galaxy having moderate dust reddening (i.e., ∼zero star formation rate with AV ~ 1 mag). The other is consistent with both passive and dusty starburst solutions (i.e., star formation rate > 100 M⊙ yr−1 with AV ∼ 3 mag). These "red spiral" galaxies would be an interesting, potentially new population of galaxies, as we start to see their detailed morphology using the JWST, for the first time.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ac982b

[Targeteer]

December 15, 2022
C22-032
NASA Awards Contract to Maintain Webb Telescope Operations

NASA logo

NASA has selected Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Redondo Beach, California, to support the James Webb Space Telescope Phase E – Operations and Sustainment contract.

The contract is a sole source cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a value of $31,186,099. The period of performance is from Dec. 25 to June 24, 2027. The contractor will provide the products and services required to monitor and maintain Webb spacecraft systems including the spacecraft bus, optics/telescope, and sunshield; maintain and update the spacecraft flight software; and trend spacecraft performance and recommend corrections and updates required for spacecraft health and safety.

The work will be performed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and at the contractor’s facility.

NASA’s Webb telescope is the world's premier space science observatory. Webb is helping solve mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

[FutureSpaceTourist]

[Star One]

First Look at z &gt; 1 Bars in the Rest-Frame Near-Infrared with JWST Early CEERS Imaging

Stellar bars are key drivers of secular evolution in galaxies and can be effectively studied using rest-frame near-infrared (NIR) images, which trace the underlying stellar mass and are less impacted by dust and star formation than rest-frame UV or optical images. We leverage the power of {\it{JWST}} CEERS NIRCam images to present the first quantitative identification and characterization of stellar bars at z&gt;1 based on rest-frame NIR F444W images of high resolution (~1.3 kpc at z ~ 1-3). We identify stellar bars in these images using quantitative criteria based on ellipse fits. For this pilot study, we present six examples of robustly identified bars at z&gt;1 with spectroscopic redshifts, including the two highest redshift bars at ~2.136 and 2.312 quantitatively identified and characterized to date. The stellar bars at z ~ 1.1-2.3 presented in our study have projected semi-major axes of ~2.9-4.3 kpc and projected ellipticities of ~0.41-0.53 in the rest-frame NIR. The barred host galaxies have stellar masses ~ 1×1010 to 2×1011 M, star formation rates of ~ 21-295 M yr−1, and several have potential nearby companions. Our finding of bars at z ~1.1-2.3 demonstrates the early onset of such instabilities and supports simulations where bars form early in massive dynamically cold disks. It also suggests that if these bars at lookback times of 8-10 Gyr survive out to present epochs, bar-driven secular processes may operate over a long time and have a significant impact on some galaxies by z ~ 0.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.08658

James Webb telescope reveals Milky Way–like galaxies in young universe

New images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal for the first time galaxies with stellar bars—elongated features of stars stretching from the centers of galaxies into their outer disks—at a time when the universe was a mere 25% of its present age. The finding of so-called barred galaxies, similar to our Milky Way, this early in the universe will require astrophysicists to refine their theories of galaxy evolution.

https://phys.org/news/2023-01-james-webb-telescope-reveals-milky.amp

[yg1968]

JWST gets first glimpse of 7-planet system with potentially habitable worlds:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04452-3

This article came out on December 14th but I missed it when it first came out.

[su27k]

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1612645602663497728

“JWST is a very sensitive micrometeoroid detector.” – NASA’s Jonathan Gardner, discussing performance of JWST, including micrometeoroid impacts on its mirrors, during an #AAS241 town hall meeting.


He adds that JWST overall is working “very, very, very well.” #AAS241


NASA’s Jane Rigby says JWST downlinks 57 GB/day of data through the Deep Space Network. Some challenges with DSN being oversubscribed at times, particularly during Artemis 1 that results in changes in JWST observing plans. #AAS241

Astronomers celebrate performance of JWST

Six months after the release of the first science images from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers and NASA officials say the observatory continues to exceed expectations while providing lessons for future space telescopes.

Talks and other presentations at the 241st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) here Jan. 9 highlighted both the science produced by JWST since it started regular operations last summer as well as the status of the telescope itself.

The conference, the largest annual gathering of astronomers, was the first since the July 12 release of the first science images that generated worldwide headlines. It came after years of conferences where astronomers instead heard about the potential of the telescope, as well as its delays and technical problems.

[bolun]

Webb confirms its first exoplanet

Researchers have confirmed the presence of an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99% of Earth’s diameter.

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/01/Exoplanet_LHS_475_b_NIRSpec_transit_light_curve

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, L. Hustak (STScI), K. Stevenson, J. Lustig-Yaeger, E. May (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory), G. Fu (Johns Hopkins University), and S. Moran (University of Arizona)

[redliox]

Given all the excited talk on Webb's discoveries with exoplanets, is it correct it'll be looking at Alpha Centauri A this summer?

[jebbo]

Yes. It is Guest Observer proposal 1618

It will use MIRI and its coronagraph to directly image alpha Cen A.

Note: it has a 12-month proprietary period, so public results might not be this year.

https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/program-information.html?id=1618

--- Tony

[redliox]

Yes. It is Guest Observer proposal 1618

It will use MIRI and its coronagraph to directly image alpha Cen A.

Note: it has a 12-month proprietary period, so public results might not be this year.

https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/program-information.html?id=1618

--- Tony

What was the exact month if not date it's going to look at Centauri A?  I'm having trouble pinning that date down.

[jebbo]

The detailed schedules are only a month or two in advance, but I believe this is intended to be in the July / August time frame.

--- Tony

[Zaum]

Yes. It is Guest Observer proposal 1618

It will use MIRI and its coronagraph to directly image alpha Cen A.

Note: it has a 12-month proprietary period, so public results might not be this year.

https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/program-information.html?id=1618

--- Tony

What was the exact month if not date it's going to look at Centauri A?  I'm having trouble pinning that date down.

If you click on "Visit Status Information" in the page linked by jebbo it gives a 15 July-3 August window. The exact date is given about a week in advance.

[jacqmans]

Webb unveils dark side of pre-stellar ice chemistry
23/01/2023

The discovery of diverse ices in the darkest, coldest regions of a molecular cloud measured to date has been announced by an international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This result allows astronomers to examine the simple icy molecules that will be incorporated into future exoplanets, while opening a new window on the origin of more complex molecules that are the first step in the creation of the building blocks of life.

If you want to build a habitable planet, ices are a vital ingredient as they are the main carriers of several key light elements — namely carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur (referred to collectively as CHONS). These elements are important ingredients in both planetary atmospheres and molecules like sugars, alcohols, and simple amino acids. In our Solar System, it is thought they were delivered to Earth’s surface by impacts with icy comets or asteroids. Furthermore, astronomers believe such ices were most likely already present in the dark cloud of cold dust and gas that would eventually collapse to make the Solar System. In these regions of space, icy dust grains provide a unique setting for atoms and molecules to meet, which can trigger chemical reactions that form very common substances like water. Detailed laboratory studies have further shown that some simple prebiotic molecules can form under these icy conditions.

Now an in-depth inventory of the deepest, coldest ices measured to date in a molecular cloud [1] has been announced by an international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. In addition to simple ices like water, the team was able to identify frozen forms of a wide range of molecules, from carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane, to the simplest complex organic molecule methanol. This is the most comprehensive census to date of the icy ingredients available to make future generations of stars and planets, before they are heated during the formation of young stars. These icy grains grow in size as they are funnelled into the protoplanetary discs of gas and dust around these young stars, essentially allowing astronomers to study all the potential icy molecules that will be incorporated into future exoplanets.

“Our results provide insights into the initial, dark chemistry stage of the formation of ice on the interstellar dust grains that will grow into the centimetre-sized pebbles from which planets form in discs,” said Melissa McClure, an astronomer at Leiden Observatory who is the principal investigator of the observing program and lead author of the paper describing this result. “These observations open a new window on the formation pathways for the simple and complex molecules that are needed to make the building blocks of life.”

In addition to the identified molecules, the team found evidence for prebiotic molecules more complex than methanol in these dense cloud ices, and, although they didn't definitively attribute these signals to specific molecules, this proves for the first time that complex molecules form in the icy depths of molecular clouds before stars are born.

“Our identification of complex organic molecules, like methanol and potentially ethanol, also suggests that the many star and planet systems developing in this particular cloud will inherit molecules in a fairly advanced chemical state,” added Will Rocha, an astronomer at Leiden Observatory who contributed to this discovery. “This could mean that the presence of prebiotic molecules in planetary systems is a common result of star formation, rather than a unique feature of our own Solar System.”

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_unveils_dark_side_of_pre-stellar_ice_chemistry

[sghill]

Yes. It is Guest Observer proposal 1618

It will use MIRI and its coronagraph to directly image alpha Cen A.

Note: it has a 12-month proprietary period, so public results might not be this year.

https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/program-information.html?id=1618

--- Tony

ABSTRACT
Alpha Centauri A is the closest solar-type star to the Sun and offers an unique opportunity to detect both a mature gas giant planet (consistent with existing radial velocity constraints) and a zodiacal dust cloud. A carefully planned observational sequence using the MIRI Coronagraph (F1550C) and innovative post-processing would be sensitive down to a radius limit of 0.5~0.7 R-Jupiter for planets within ~3 AU (~2.5”) around alpha Cen A where models predict a region of stability against disruption by alpha Cen B. These same observations would be sensitive to a level of zodiacal
emission only a few times brighter than that of the Sun’s, an unprecedented level not even achieved by ground based interferometers. The proposed observations would probe the limit of JWST high contrast imaging on a star that offers the best chance for the ultimate detection of Earth analogs by future ground and/or space based facilities. The experiment is admittedly high risk, but the prospect of directly imaging a planet around our closest stellar neighbor is an exciting one.

Bold emphasis mine.

They are going to try to directly image a planet half the size of Jupiter!  Even if they don't succeed, they get to try out a technique that may be used in the future.

They are also going to try to image the zodiacal light. Question: Are trace CFC gases in the zodiacal light something they could register with the spectrometer at this distance? There are obvious world-shattering implications if they see any...

[Eric Hedman]

They are also going to try to image the zodiacal light. Question: Are trace CFC gases in the zodiacal light something they could register with the spectrometer at this distance? There are obvious world-shattering implications if they see any...

Why would there be any CFCs evident in zodiacal light?  It is light reflected off of interplanetary dust surrounding a star.  Besides I think CFCs breakdown relatively quickly on a cosmic timescale in the cold of near vacuum conditions found in space.