The NASA SPHEREx telescope will be used to map over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars with unprecedented detail.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, over the span of two years, the SPHEREx telescope will create maps of more than 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars within the Milky Way galaxy, producing one map each year.
The NASA SPHEREx telescope will map over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars with unprecedented detail. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech).
SPHEREx will search for evidence of water and important molecules such as carbon monoxide in the dust disks surrounding stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
The telescope will also investigate the beginnings of star formation and the era of reionization in the Milky Way, studying how galaxies evolve through changes in brightness over time.
Ultimately, SPHEREx will also research how the universe is expanding exponentially.
However, some opinions suggest that this telescope looks somewhat peculiar, resembling the conical design of a protective collar worn by veterinarians.
Beth Fabinsky, Deputy Project Director of SPHEREx, proudly stated, “This is not an embarrassing cone hat; it will become famous true to its name, SPHEREx!”
The SPHEREx telescope measures 2.6 meters in length and 3.2 meters in width, featuring three conical photon shields made of aluminum. These shields are nested together with gaps in between, along with a V-groove radiator used to shield and protect the telescope from heat and infrared radiation from the Sun or Earth.
The telescope itself must be cooled to -210 degrees Celsius continuously to withstand the thermal radiation of space while operating.
After completing assembly and testing for durability, the SPHEREx telescope will be launched into space via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the launch scheduled no earlier than June 2024.
