James Webb Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope is currently in the constellation of Ophiucus. The current Right Ascension of James Webb Space Telescope is 17h 47m 34s and the Declination is -25° 16’ 10” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]).

Summary of key facts about James Webb Space Telescope [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Additional information about James Webb Space Telescope available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is James Webb Space Telescope?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is James Webb Space Telescope from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does James Webb Space Telescope rise and set?)
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of James Webb Space Telescope with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of James Webb Space Telescope for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate James Webb Space Telescope in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate James Webb Space Telescope with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where James Webb Space Telescope is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is James Webb Space Telescope?, a page that provides all the information needed to find James Webb Space Telescope in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

James Webb Space Telescope Distance from Earth

The distance of James Webb Space Telescope from Earth is currently 1,569,917 kilometers, equivalent to 0.010494 Astronomical Units. Light takes 5.2367 seconds to travel from James Webb Space Telescope and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of James Webb Space Telescope from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of James Webb Space Telescope from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of James Webb Space Telescope to Earth

Between December 2021 and May 2024, the closest approach of James Webb Space Telescope to Earth happens on Sun Dec 26 2021 at a distance of 0.000894 Astronomical Units, or 133,698 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

James Webb Space Telescope rise and set times

Today's James Webb Space Telescope rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of James Webb Space Telescope touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of James Webb Space Telescope Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of James Webb Space Telescope with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of James Webb Space Telescope and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

James Webb Space Telescope 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of James Webb Space Telescope computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate James Webb Space Telescope in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2022 May 12	17h 14m 23s	-20° 24’ 25”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 13	17h 18m 47s	-21° 02’ 47”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 14	17h 23m 07s	-21° 40’ 14”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 15	17h 27m 21s	-22° 16’ 50”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 16	17h 31m 32s	-22° 52’ 32”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 17	17h 35m 36s	-23° 27’ 24”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 18	17h 39m 37s	-24° 01’ 22”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 19	17h 43m 32s	-24° 34’ 29”	N.A.	Ophiucus
2022 May 20	17h 47m 20s	-25° 06’ 47”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2022 May 21	17h 51m 01s	-25° 38’ 17”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2022 May 22	17h 54m 34s	-26° 09’ 01”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2022 May 23	17h 58m 01s	-26° 38’ 58”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2022 May 24	18h 01m 21s	-27° 08’ 12”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2022 May 25	18h 04m 32s	-27° 36’ 46”	N.A.	Sagittarius