Early results from the WISCI project: Webb Investigation of Silicates, Carbons and Ices - SSW

EARLY RESULTS FROM THE WISCI PROJECT: WEBB INVESTIGATION OF SILICATES, CARBONS AND ICES - SASCHA ZEEGERS

The diffuse interstellar medium plays an essential role in regulating the energy balance of galaxies, by processing starlight and driving molecule formation. It contains the input ingredients of dense star forming clouds and, consequently, of new stars and planets. Therefore, it is important to understand the properties, formation, and evolution of this dust. However, we lack a fundamental understanding of the dust cycle in galaxies and its main elemental building blocks: H, C, O, Si, Mg, and Fe. The imprints of dust on the spectra of stars reveal information about the composition and structure of the dust grains, which in turn can explain what happens to the grains as they travel through the interstellar medium (ISM).
In this talk I present the Webb Investigation of Silicates, Carbons and Ices (WISCI) project in which we study dust along the line of sight of twelve OB stars in the Milky Way, using JWST MIRI and NIRCam (GO cycle 1 program id 2183), HST STIS (cycle 30 program id 17078) and VLT XSHOOTER spectroscopy.
The wavelength coverage, sensitivity, and spectral resolution of JWST at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths in combination with HST and VLT observations enables us to study dust in the diffuse ISM in unprecedented detail. In this talk I will present the first exciting results from this study.