NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope Just Switched On. Time to Map the Entire Universe in 3D

NASA’s newest eye on the cosmos is officially open for business, commencing its regular science operations this week with the main charge of mapping the universe. After a six-week calibration period, NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer—mercifully shortened to SPHEREx—has begun its two-year mission to build an ultra-detailed, full-sky map of the universe. Launched in early March after some delay, the space observatory is now snapping 3,600 infrared images per day, collecting light at wavelengths that humans can’t see that contains evidence of cosmic objects and events dating back to the dawn of the universe. Unlike some telescopes that peer into a specific patch of sky, SPHEREx will observe the entire celestial sphere, completing a sweep of it every six months. SPHEREx orbits Earth roughly 14 times a day, each time scanning a fresh strip of our Milky Way and beyond. SPHEREx takes in light with six detectors that split li ... Read full article.