Sunshield Successfully Deploys on NASA’s Next Flagship Telescope

Tuesday, 04 January 2022

The James Webb Space Telescope team has fully deployed the spacecraft’s 70-foot sunshield, a key milestone in preparing it for science operations.

04.12.2024 at 08:47:51 UTC

Type	Dec 4	Dec 5	Dec 6
Active	10%	10%	15%
Minor	5%	5%	5%
Moderate	1%	1%	1%
Strong	1%	1%	1%
Kp Index Prediction
00-03UT	1.33	1.67	2.33
03-06UT	1.33	1.33	1.67
06-09UT	1.33	1.33	2.00
09-12UT	1.33	1.33	1.67
12-15UT	1.33	1.33	2.33
15-18UT	1.67	1.33	2.33
18-21UT	1.67	1.67	2.33
21-00UT	1.67	1.67	2.67
Solar Activity
Solar flare activity has been at low levels. There have been five C-class flares with most of the activity coming from newly numbered Region 3916 (S16E72, Cai/beta). Region 3906 (S16W76, Eko/beta-gamma) and Region 3912 (S05E11, Eai/beta) both produced C-class flares, the largest being a C6.1 at 03/0544 UTC from Region 3906. There have been no Earth-directed CMEs observed in available coronagraph imagery.
Solar Wind
Solar wind parameters reflected the arrival of a weak CME early in the period and have been enhanced since. Total magnetic field was between 12-14 nT early on and has remained around 10 nT for most of the period. The Bz component varied between -7 and 12 nT. Solar wind speeds have averaged around 420 km/s. The phi angle has been mostly positive (away from the Sun) but has had three transitions into the negative for about 2-4 hours at a time.
Energetic Particle
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux was at normal to moderate levels. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux remained at background levels.