NASA's latest mission involves a launching a telescope that's no bigger than your average car, with plans to map the entire sky - including multiple universes - in 3D for research purposes.
NASA telescopes have been able to source some incredibly valuable information in space, including knowledge of an astronomically expensive asteroid and knowledge that our universe might just be expanding faster than previously expected.
Their new mission involves a telescope that could eclipse all of that though, as it plans to map the entire sky in 3D, which could end up providing illuminating evidence regarding the origins of the universe.
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Introducing SPHEREx - known by its rather lengthy name of 'Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer' - a telescope that is "about the size of a subcompact car" according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Its shape is one of its most unique properties, as it's not only small compared to many other similar devices, it's cone-shaped design is built for a specific purpose.
This is to shield SPHEREx from harmfully high temperatures and infrared radiation from the Sun and Earth which would effectively render the camera blind, as its operating temperature needs to remain at around -210⁰C.
Deputy Project Manager of SPHEREx has lovingly declared, as reported by Space: "These aren't cones of shame. They're SPHEREx's cones of fame!"
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SPHEREx's objective is to orbit around the earth, scanning the sky in 3D as it goes to create an accurate and incredibly detailed picture of the universe containing hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in the process.
From a visual perspective the telescope's images will be produced in 102 different colors, each representing a different wavelength of light, and two maps will be produced annually across it's two year lifespan.
The telescope's three main goals include the following:
- To shed light on 'inflation' - a cosmic event where space expanded by a trillion-trillionfold in less than a second following the big bang
- To measure the collective glow from different galaxies, including hidden ones that haven't been individually observed
- To search the Milky Way for 'essential building blocks of life', including ice water granules and carbon dioxide
The latter is particularly important, as it not only will uncover how these compounds are incorporated into newly formed planets, it will also give support to research looking into the origins of Earth and the universe at large, as shown in similar data collected from a unique Centaur.
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It's planned to launch alongside NASA's PUNCH mission in late February 2025, so we'll still have to wait a while to see the first set of images - but they'll likely be breathtaking once they do arrive.