NASA's SPHEREx space telescope will map the entire celestial sky in 3D

What just happened? NASA's latest observatory is preparing for a two-year mission to create a 3D map of the entire celestial sky. SPHEREx, which is short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that left Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 8:10 pm Pacific on March 11. Following a checkout period lasting one month, the observatory – which measures 8.5 feet tall, 10.5 feet across, and weighs 1,107 pounds – will capture a full 3D map of over 450 million galaxies once every six months for two years. Using a technique called spectroscopy, SPHEREx will split infrared light emitted by stars and galaxies into 102 individual colors. The resulting imagery is likely to be both visually stunning and immensely helpful, as color analysis can reveal details about a source including its composition and distance from Earth. NASA said the mission will also measure the total collective ... Read full article.