Abstract The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and may be launched as early as mid-2011. The key scientific goals for JWST are discovering and understanding the formation of the first stars and galaxies, the evolution of galaxies and the production of elements by stars, and the process of star and planet formation. Within this context, we discuss the expected properties of the first stellar generations in the Universe. We find that it is possible to discern truly primordial populations from the next generation of stars by measuring the metallicity of high-z star forming objects. The very low background of JWST will enable it to image and study first-light sources at very high redshifts, whereas its relatively small collecting area limits its capability in obtaining spectra of z∼10-15 first-light sources to either the bright end of their luminosity function or to strongly lensed sources. With a suitable investment of observing time JWST will be able to detect individual Population III supernovae, thus identifying the very first stars that formed in the Universe.
Keywords space vehicles: instruments -- early universe -- galaxies: star clusters -- supernovae: general
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