NASA’s Latest Space Telescope Achieves What Hubble Cannot

In recent years, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has brought one cosmic marvel after another to humanity. By the end of February, a new player will join NASA’s epic space telescope narrative – SPHEREx. This eggshell-white, cone-shaped probe is set to accomplish what the Webb telescope cannot: mapping the entire universe.

SPHEREx stands for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) released details about this new space telescope. Scheduled for launch as early as February 27 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SPHEREx will provide astronomers with an unprecedented cosmic panorama. It will unveil aspects of the universe even beyond what the groundbreaking Webb telescope can achieve, serving as a powerful tool for scientists to address cosmic inquiries.

During its two-year space exploration mission, SPHEREx will chart a cosmic map. It aims to gather data on over 450 million galaxies and more than 100 million stars within the Milky Way to explore the origin of the universe. Some of these galaxies are incredibly distant, with their light taking up to 10 billion years to reach Earth.

SPHEREx will help unveil the secrets of cosmic inflation, which occurred nearly 14 billion years ago and still influences the large-scale matter distribution in the universe. By charting the distribution of over 450 million galaxies, SPHEREx will aid scientists in revealing the “mastermind” behind cosmic inflation.

Using 102 infrared colors, SPHEREx will map out the entire sky. Nicky Fox, Deputy Director of the NASA Astrophysics Division, stated to Space.com: “This is the first time in human history. And we will see it every six months. Never have we had such high color resolution in our previous imagery.”

Previously, scientists attempted to estimate the total light emitted by all galaxies throughout cosmic history by observing the glow of individual galaxies and extrapolating to the tens of thousands of galaxies in the universe. SPHEREx will take a different approach, measuring the total glow from all galaxies, including those too dim, spread out, or far away for other telescopes to detect. By combining these measurements with those from other telescopes that study individual galaxies, scientists can gain a more comprehensive understanding of all major light sources in the universe.

Within the Milky Way, SPHEREx will search for the basic elements of life – water and organic molecules – in star nurseries and in disks around stars where new planets may be forming, providing valuable clues for exploring the mysteries of cosmic life.

Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Acting Director of Astrophysics for NASA Headquarters, described using the Webb telescope to take snapshots as akin to taking a photograph of a person, while SPHEREx and similar missions operate more like entering panoramic mode to capture a group of people and what surrounds them.

However, SPHEREx and Webb telescope each have their strengths. The $10 billion Webb telescope excels at observing specific nebulae and relatively narrow but deeply dimensional deep space scenes, while SPHEREx’s goal is to map the cosmic panorama.

SPHEREx enhances NASA’s space telescope arsenal with unique advantages. Telescopes like Hubble and Webb have already magnified many corners of the universe, showcasing planets, stars, and galaxies in high resolution to humanity. Yet, questions like how much total light all galaxies in the universe emit can only be answered by starting from a full panorama. Thus, SPHEREx will provide a map covering the entire sky. Scientists can first identify astronomically meaningful objects through SPHEREx and then conduct more detailed studies using targeted telescopes like Hubble and Webb.

The cone-shaped design of SPHEREx helps it maintain low temperatures and observe faint objects. The infrared telescope and detectors for this mission need to operate at around -350 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately -210 degrees Celsius).