NASA’s SPHEREx telescope to map galaxy & reveal cosmic mysteries

With their limited fields of view, NASA’s larger and more complex Hubble and Webb space telescopes will be able to see galaxies in more detail than SPHEREX. SPHEREX will measure the total brightness generated by entire clusters, including the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang that created the universe, rather than counting or concentrating on individual galaxies.

In an unprecedented attempt to survey the entire sky, NASA’s newest space telescope entered orbit on Tuesday. The SPHEREX observatory, which will carry four suitcase-sized satellites to study the sun, was launched by SpaceX from California and is scheduled to travel over the poles of the planet.

We’ll look for icy clouds, water, and other life-sustaining components.

The $488 million SPHEREX project seeks to understand how the universe expanded so rapidly in its early stages and how galaxies formed and changed over billions of years. SPHEREX will search for water and other life-sustaining components in frozen clouds between stars in the vicinity of our own Milky Way galaxy, where new solar systems are forming.

With its vast field of view and infrared eyes, the cone-shaped SPHEREX, which weighs 1,110 pounds (500 kilograms), or almost the same as a grand piano, will take six months to map the entire sky. Over two years, four full-sky surveys are scheduled as the telescope travels 400 miles (650 km) around the world from pole to pole.

What is Spherex going to do?

With their limited fields of view, NASA’s larger and more complex Hubble and Webb space telescopes will be able to see galaxies in more detail than SPHEREX. SPHEREX will measure the total brightness generated by entire clusters, including the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang that created the universe, rather than counting or concentrating on individual galaxies.

“This cosmic glow captures all the light emitted in cosmic history,” California Institute of Technology mission chief scientist Jamie Bock stated. “It’s a very different way of looking at the universe,” enabling researchers to identify light sources that could have previously gone unnoticed.

We will be aware of the universe’s origins.

Scientists aim to uncover the light from the first galaxies and discover how they evolved by examining the collective brightness. “Said Bock.” “The Big Bang won’t be visible to us. However, we shall observe its aftermath and gain knowledge about the universe’s origins.

The telescope will produce the most comprehensive and vivid map of the universe ever made thanks to its infrared detectors, which can identify 102 colors that are undetectable to the human eye. According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory deputy project manager Beth Fabinski, it’s “like looking at the universe through rainbow-colored glasses.”

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