New NIRCam imaging flux calibration reference files are now available in the Calibration Reference Data System (CRDS) in context jwst_0989.map. To use the new flux calibration, observers may run the JWST calibration pipeline on any NIRCam imaging data set using the new context. Reprocessed images will also be available in the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) in the near future.

The improved calibration values were derived using calibration observations of three different standard stars: The A-type star J1743045 (PID 1536), the white dwarf GD71 (PID 1537), and the G-type star P330E (PID 1538). These observations placed each star in all of the 10 NIRCam detectors, using every imaging filter, to derive a comprehensive set of photometric calibration values.

The new flux calibrations were verified using imaging of the globular cluster M92 from the DD-ERS program (PID 1334). Verification analysis showed improvements in the relative calibration between detectors, and the absolute calibration showed good agreement with the independently derived flux calibration of NIRISS imaging.

The efforts to calibrate JWST continues throughout Cycle 1, so stay tuned for future refinements of the calibration of NIRCam and the other science instruments.