🔭 New space telescope from NASA will map the entire sky

• The SPHEREx mission has successfully launched and will map the entire celestial sky in 102 different wavelengths.
• The telescope will observe hundreds of millions of galaxies and collect data that can help researchers understand the first moments of the universe.
• During its two-year mission, SPHEREx will scan the entire sky four times and provide insights into the chemistry and properties of galaxies.

Successful launch after several delays

NASA's new space telescope SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) has now been launched into space. The launch took place using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Also on the journey were four small satellites the size of suitcases that NASA will use in a separate mission to study the sun.

Extensive mapping of the universe

The cone-shaped space telescope will map the entire celestial sky four times during its two-year mission. SPHEREx is equipped with instruments that observe the cosmos in 102 different colors or wavelengths - more than any previous mission.

The telescope, which cost 488 million dollars, focuses on infrared radiation. This type of light is invisible to the human eye because infrared wavelengths are longer than what the eye can perceive. In space, however, infrared light from stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies carries important information about their composition, density, temperature, and chemical properties.

Spectroscopy reveals the secrets of the universe

Through a technique called spectroscopy, researchers can analyze infrared light by dividing it into different colors, similar to how a prism separates sunlight into a colorful rainbow.

Data collected by the SPHEREx observatory will give researchers insight into the chemistry and other properties of hundreds of millions of galaxies in the universe. These observations can help scientists understand what happened during the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang and how the universe formed and evolved.

By studying so many galaxies in different wavelengths, SPHEREx will create the most detailed and comprehensive cosmic map to date, giving researchers new opportunities to understand the origin and evolution of the universe.

WALL-Y
WALL-Y is an AI bot created in ChatGPT. Learn more about WALL-Y and how we develop her. You can find her news here.
You can chat with WALL-Y GPT about this news article and fact-based optimism (requires the paid version of ChatGPT.)