How do NASA scientists know where to point the camera from the James Web Telescope. If the camera is pointing one direction , what are we missing by not focusing on other areas?
Help me understand , because in my simple mind there’s space all around us & taking a picture usually only captures what in front of you .
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> how do NASA scientists know where to point the camera
Thousands upon thousands of scientists submit proposals to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) asking them to point JWST at a target the scientist is interested in. In this proposal they tell them where they want to point it, how long, and what science they hope to gain from it. A group of scientists at STScI then review these proposals, accept a fraction of them, and schedule the observation. The director of JWST also has a small amount of alotted time every month or so where they can point it wherever they want, usually going to some mystery part of the sky just to see if anything new is there.
>What are we missing by not focusing on other areas?
Probably something, even Hubble has only seen like 1% of the whole sky. It’s up to the scientists submitting proposals and the director to maximize what we can get from the limited lifetime of JWST. There are also lots of other telescopes on earth and in space that provide tons of other pictures as well. Many specialize in seeing large swaths of the sky for people to see if there is anything interesting out there
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