Astronomers are eager to use the observatory to search for alien civilizations.
If we are alone in the universe, the telescope is powerful enough to directly image individual exoplanets, a prospect that some say could lead to us finding out once and for all.
A team of astronomer from NASA and other institutions suggested that the JWST could be used to spot planets with traces of chlorofluorocarbons.
The same gases that led to humanity punching a hole in the Earth's ozone layer could be signs of extraterrestrial civilization. Aliens who have polluted their atmosphere could be a sign of extraterrestrial life.
TRAPPIST-1, a system made up of several Earth-sized planets, is a good first target to look for.
CFCs are a notable example of a technosignature on Earth, and the detection of them on a planet like TRAPPIST-1e would be difficult to explain through any biological or geologic features we know of today.
The TRAPPIST-1 is relatively dim, which means that the JWST's IR equipment wouldn't be affected by it. Our own Sun would be too bright if a telescope like the JWST were to attempt the same thing.
As we come up with more capable technologies, that could change.
In the next few decades there will be at least two of Earth's passive technosignatures, radio emissions and atmospheric pollution that would be detected by our own technology around the nearest star.
The air pollution of other civilizations might be detected by the Webb Telescope.
The James Webb Space Telescope is just about to become its first star.
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