Data from the James Webb Space Telescope will be released to the community beginning on 2022 July 12. These pages describe the release timeline, some of the featured products, and the means by which users may obtain data products.
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Table of Contents
Release Timeline
Data will be released in stages, as depicted in the graphic below. Data are hosted on multiple platforms in an effort to serve large amounts of data to a wide audience in a timely way.
JWST data will be released in stages (green circles) by program type. It takes some time for all of the data to be migrated from storage where exclusive access is enforced to storage where there are no restrictions. During the migration (orange bars) logged-in users may retrieve the data, but anonymous users can only retrieve data that have been migrated. (Note: migration times are approximate.) Data that are staged on the AWS platform will become available to everyone immediately upon release.
Data from CAL, DD, ENG, ERS, and GO/GTO are bundled under "Cycle-1" programs in the timeline above. Exclusive access periods for GO/GTO data will continue to be enforced where applicable.
All data are embargoed until after the Webb First Images (ERO) press conference on 12 July.
Program Categories
Data from the following categories of programs will be made available in MAST (and in two cases, Amazon Web Services):
Abbr | Program Type | Access | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
CAL | Calibration | Public | Cycle 1 program to collect data for calibrating science instruments. Some include observations of external targets. |
COM | Commissioning | Public | Observations obtained in the first 6 months of flight to characterize and adjust telescope and instrument functionality and performance. |
DD | Director's Discretion | Public | Off-cycle grants of urgent observations. |
ENG | Engineering | Public | Non-standard observations meant to characterize instrument health and functionality. |
ERO | Early Release Observations | Public | Webb First Science data that illustrate the capabilities of JWST and the science instruments. |
ERS | Early Release Science | Public | Cycle 1 programs that will execute early. |
GO/GTO | Guest/Guaranteed-Time Observer | EAP+Public | Cycle 1 programs, a few of which have immediate public access. |
Use AWS for Data Retrievals
We strongly recommend that you retrieve data from the AWS S3 bucket if available. This will off-load network traffic from STScI, and will offer higher availability and throughput for data transfers. Datasets on AWS are the ERO science data and the Commissioning (COM) data. The volume of all COM data is approximately 46 TB.
User Support
For MAST user support, contact the HelpDesk: archive@stsci.edu. See the Archive Support page for details and other resources.
Please acknowledge the use of data obtained from MAST in publications.