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Paper: Observing Resolved Stellar Populations with the JWST Near-Infrared Spectrograph
Volume: 507, Multi-Object Spectroscopy in the Next Decade: Big Questions, Large Surveys, and Wide Fields
Page: 311
Authors: Gilbert, K. M.; Beck, T. L.; Karakla, D. M.
Abstract: The James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) will provide a multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) mode through the Micro-Shutter Array (MSA). Each MSA quadrant is a grid of contiguous shutters that can be configured to form slits on more than 100 astronomical targets simultaneously. The combination of JWST's sensitivity and superb resolution in the infrared and NIRSpec's full wavelength coverage over 0.6 to 5 μm will open new parameter space for studies of galaxies and resolved stellar populations alike. We describe a NIRSpec MSA observing scenario of spectroscopy of individual stars in an external galaxy, and investigate the technical challenges posed by this scenario. This use case and others, including a deep galaxy survey and observations of Galactic H{\rm II} regions, are guiding development of the NIRSpec user interfaces including proposal planning and pipeline calibrations.
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