NASA's newest space telescope successfully launched into orbit on Tuesday, aiming to map the entire sky in an unprecedented way. The mission is set to provide a sweeping perspective on hundreds of millions of galaxies and their shared cosmic glow since the dawn of time. According to reports, SpaceX was responsible for launching the Spherex observatory from California, which is expected to follow a trajectory that takes it over Earth's poles. Alongside Spherex, four suitcase-sized satellites were also deployed to study the sun.
Once it detached from the rocket's upper stage, Spherex began its journey into the vastness of space, with Earth visible in the background. The mission, which has a budget of USD 488 million, seeks to shed light on the formation and evolution of galaxies over billions of years, as well as the rapid expansion of the universe during its earliest moments. Closer to home, within our own Milky Way galaxy, Spherex is tasked with searching for water and essential life ingredients hidden in the icy clouds that exist between stars, where new solar systems are born.
Spherex, weighing in at 1,110 pounds (500 kilograms)—roughly equivalent to a grand piano—is projected to take six months to complete its mapping of the entire sky using its infrared instruments and broad field of view. The plan includes conducting four full-sky surveys over the next two years while orbiting at an altitude of 400 miles (650 kilometers).
Unlike NASA's more intricate Hubble and Webb telescopes, which focus on individual galaxies, Spherex will not provide detailed images of galaxies. Instead, its focus will be on observing the total cosmic glow emanating from all galaxies, including the earliest ones that emerged after the Big Bang.?
Jamie Bock, the mission's chief scientist from the California Institute of Technology, remarked that this "cosmological glow" encompasses all light produced throughout cosmic history, offering a novel approach to viewing the universe. By analyzing this collective light, scientists aim to extract information about the earliest galaxies and understand their formation.
Bock noted that while Spherex won't capture the Big Bang itself, it will allow researchers to learn about the universe's beginnings through the aftermath of that event. The telescope’s infrared detectors are said to be capable of distinguishing 102 colors that are invisible to the human eye, resulting in an inclusive and colorful map of the cosmos that has never been created before. Beth Fabinsky, deputy project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, described the experience as akin to "looking at the universe through a set of rainbow-colored glasses."
To maintain the infrared detectors at extremely low temperatures of minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 210 degrees Celsius), Spherex features a distinctive design with three aluminum-honeycomb cones arranged concentrically. This structure acts as a protective shield against the sun and Earth's heat, resembling a 10-foot (3-meter) collar designed for an ailing dog.
Additionally, SpaceX's Falcon rocket facilitated the launch of a quartet of NASA satellites known as Punch, which will study the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, and monitor the resulting solar wind from their own polar orbit. The evening launch was reported to have faced a two-week delay due to various issues, including concerns with the rocket.
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Inputs from PTI