The JWST field of regard (FOR) is the region of the sky where scientific observations can be conducted safely at a given time.

  STScI Office of Public Outreach video on JWST Field of Regard

The JWST field of regard (FOR) is the region of the sky where scientific observations can be conducted safely at a given time. The FOR is defined by the allowed range of boresight pointing angles for the observatory relative to the sun line, which must remain in the range 85° to 135° at all times to keep the telescope behind the sun shield. Thus, the FOR is a large torus on the sky that moves roughly 1° per day in ecliptic longitude, following the telescope in its path around the sun. Over time, this annulus sweeps over the entire celestial sphere. As a result of the FOR, JWST can observe about 39% of the full sky on any given day and can access 100% of the sky over 6 months. Figure 1 shows a schematic of the FOR.

Beginning in late 2022, NASA has imposed a micrometeoroid avoidance zone to minimize potential impacts from space debris coming from the direction of orbital motion.  This zone overlaps a significant portion of the orbital leading side of the FOR torus.  Observations in this overlap region with the FOR are not disallowed, but must be minimized for the long term safety of the observatory. Starting with Cycle 2, APT contains warnings and errors related to proposed observations that require observations in this restricted region.