JWST's mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) is less sensitive than the telescope's other instruments.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by JWST's own technical documentation (STScI) and multiple peer-reviewed papers showing MIRI has significantly lower point-source sensitivity than NIRCam/NIRSpec due to higher thermal background, dark current, and lower quantum efficiency. Practical consequence (shallower MIRI exposures in surveys) is also corroborated. [tier=gold indep_score=1.0 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=partial on JWST Exposure Time Calculator sensitivity estimates used across STScI documentation and instrument performance papers (upstreams: STScI JWST Exposure Time Calculator (ETC), JWST commissioning performance papers (Rieke et al. 2023, Wright et al. 2023, Rigby et al. 2023)) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- A scientist looked at 'little red dots' in the early Universe and found a black hole that shouldn't exist | BBC Sky at Night Magazine (seed:space_and_astronomy)
- https://news.arizona.edu/news/monster-hiding-plain-sight-jwst-reveals-cosmic-shapeshifter-early-universe (corroboration)
- https://jwst-docs.stsci.edu/jwst-mid-infrared-instrument (corroboration)
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/1903.08169 (corroboration)
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/1404.0005 (corroboration)
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/1110.6202 (corroboration)
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0304226 (corroboration)