> Working with Webb data involves several types of calibration, but the current controversy is around one of the telescope’s main instruments, its Near Infrared

> Working with Webb data involves several types of calibration, but the current controversy is around one of the telescope’s main instruments, its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). In the six months after Webb launched, STScI researchers worked to calibrate NIRCam. But given the demands on Webb, they had only enough time to point it at one or two calibration stars, and to take data using just one of NIRCam’s ten detectors. They then estimated the calibrations for the other nine detectors. “That’s where there was a problem,” Boyer says. “Each detector will be a little bit different.” ... > In the long run, astronomers are sure to sort out the calibration and become more confident in their conclusions. But for now, Boyer says, “I would tell people to proceed with caution — whatever results they might be getting today might not be quite right in six months, when we have more information. It’s just sort of, ‘Proceed at your own risk.’”