Latest news with #SPHEREx
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Science
- Forbes
In Photos: See The Stunning ‘Space Rainbows' Captured By NASA
On April 18, 2025, the WFI-2 instrument on NASA's PUNCH spacecraft created this view of the zodiacal ... More light, a faint glow from dust orbiting the sun. There are no rainbows in space, but the next best thing has been snapped by a new NASA spacecraft now orbiting Earth while testing its cameras. The spacecraft, called PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), is about to begin investigating how the sun's outer corona — by far the hottest part of our star's atmosphere — becomes the solar wind that causes the Northern Lights. The PUNCH mission blasted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 11, 2025. Also in the rocket's fairing was NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory. PUNCH isn't a single spacecraft. It comprises four small satellites that together create a single 'virtual instrument' that spans the whole PUNCH constellation. The aim is to make 3D observations of the sun's corona for at least two years. It's hoped that by doing so, scientists will better be able to figure out how the sun's corona becomes the solar wind and so more accurately predict space weather. That's crucial because solar wind can greatly affect satellites and robotic explorers in space. Captured on April 16, 2025, this is the first image taken by PUNCH's WFI-1 instrument. The ... More instrument's wide field of view reveals the glow of zodiacal light stretching up and to the right. The V shape of the Hyades star cluster appears near the top, with the more compact Pleiades star cluster to the lower right. A rainbow is an optical illusion created by sunlight refracting and being reflected inside droplets of liquid in an atmosphere. That's not going to happen in space. PUNCH's 'space rainbows' are unique images of what astronomers call the zodiacal light, a triangular beam of light that can be seen on the horizon a few hours before sunrise or after sunset as the false dawn or false dusk. PUNCH's stunning polarimetric triplet images are a combination of three images (red, green and blue) of sunlight being reflected by space dust. They were created during imaging tests of three polarizers on PUNCH on April 18, 2025, with the light colorized based on its angle (polarization). For a few weeks in late September and October, a triangular beam of light appears on the eastern horizon a few hours before sunrise before gently fading. This is the "false dawn." In March and April, the opposite happens as a triangular beam of light appears on the western horizon a few hours after sunset — the "false dusk." So-called zodiacal light — literally "light from the circle of animals" — is the glow of the solar system. Reflected sunlight from interplanetary dust around the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter radiates across the (visible) optical spectrum and beyond. Depictions of two kinds of dust in space: At left the pyramid-shaped glow of Zodiacal Light caused ... More by sunlight reflecting off interplanetary dust in the inner solar system from comets and meteoroids, while at right is the band of the bright Milky Way, made of stars in our galaxy. (Photo by: VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) It's called the zodiacal light because it appears above where the sun has just set/is about to rise, so along the ecliptic — the path of the sun through the daytime sky. This is the plane of the solar system, and it's where you'll find the belt of constellations across the night sky that the sun moves through in a calendar year — hence star signs. The 12 'signs' of the zodiac are all officially recognized astronomical constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. There's also a thirteenth, Ophiuchus, a huge constellation that the sun also passes through. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's PUNCH spacecraft see a cosmic rainbow in the zodiacal light
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA's newest spacecraft aimed at studying the sun have captured a colorful "rainbow" in the warm glow of zodiacal light observed above Earth. The PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which launched on March 11, consists of four small satellites working in unison in low Earth orbit to provide a comprehensive view of the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, and study the constant stream of charged particles emitted by the sun known as solar wind. The mission delivered its first set of images, including a vivid, rainbow-colored view of the sky, according to a statement from NASA that shared PUNCH's latest images. These images feature zodiacal light — the faint, diffuse glow created by sunlight scattering off dust particles in space. In one view captured by the PUNCH mission's WFI-2 instrument on April 18, a hazy glow transitions from red on the left to green in the center and blue on the right, set against a backdrop of stars. The coloration of light in this image does not depict a true optical rainbow as would be seen by the naked eye, but rather a colored representation of different wavelengths of light that highlight the instrument's capability to analyze various components of the solar atmosphere. The mission measures the corona and solar wind in three dimensions by studying the polarization of light, which is the direction light travels after it has been scattered by particles. The four satellites include one Narrow Field Imager (NFI), which blocks out the bright light from the sun to better see details in the corona. On April 27, the NFI instrument captured the new moon as it passed by the sun, using its occulter (an object that blocks a direct view of the sun) to hide the solar disk. These early images help the PUNCH mission team calibrate the instruments and ensure they are working as expected. The PUNCH spacecraft also include three Wide Field Imagers (WFIs), which are designed to see the very faint, outermost portion of the corona and solar wind. The WFI-1 and WFI-3 instruments also captured the soft glow of zodiacal light on April 16, with the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters and Andromeda galaxy in view. The Andromeda galaxy can be seen as a faint wispy spiral on the far right of the image below. The 'W' shape of the Cassiopeia constellation can be made out at the top. The familiar Pleiades can be seen at the left side of the image. RELATED STORIES: — NASA's sun-studying PUNCH mission captures its 1st-light images. Everything looks great so far — NASA set to deliver a knock-out PUNCH to mysteries of the solar wind — SpaceX rocket launches NASA SPHEREx space telescope and PUNCH solar probes (video) PUNCH launched on March 12, 2025 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Riding alongside the four PUNCH satellites was another new NASA spacecraft, called SPHEREx. Like the James Webb Space Telescope, SPHEREx — which stands for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer — peers into the cosmos with infrared eyes. Unlike the James Webb Space Telescope, however, SPHEREx is designed to take in a wide view of the universe in order to create a new map of the visible sky. "We are literally mapping the entire celestial sky in 102 infrared colors for the first time in humanity's history," Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said during a conference about SPHEREx on Jan. 31.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA SPHEREx space telescope has captured its 1st images of cosmos: See stunning photos
NASA's newest space telescope has officially begun snapping some incredible images of the cosmos about two months after it got off the ground. SPHEREx, which the U.S. space agency sent on a mission to unravel some of the universe's biggest mysteries, first released a debut batch of uncalibrated images in April unsuited for scientific study. What followed was about six weeks of procedures to make sure the advanced instrument is working as it should. Now, the telescope has commenced mapping not just a section of the sky, but all of it as part of NASA's goal of charting the positions of hundreds of millions of galaxies in three-dimension. As of May, that includes taking some 3,600 images per day. NASA released a sampling of those images May 1, which the space agency hopes are just the tip of the iceberg. Ultimately, scientists hope SPHEREx will provide data lending new insights into the origins of the universe and whether the ingredients for life exist anywhere else in our Milky Way galaxy. Here's a look at some of SPHEREx's first images, as well as what to know about the observatory's two-year mission. SPHEREx mission: NASA launches 'incredible' new tools into space to study the universe, sun's corona See 1st photos from SPHEREx space telescope Throughout the next 25 months, the SPHEREx observatory will orbit Earth more than 11,000 times while surveying and imaging the surrounding sky. When SPHEREx takes pictures of the sky, the light is sent to six detectors that can capture different wavelengths of light, or exposures. By the mission's end, NASA will weave hundreds of thousands of SPHEREx's images into digital sky maps. Here's a look at two of the newest photos: What is the SPHEREx mission? Telescope to study origins of universe SPHEREx, short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, was developed by NASA for a mission to uncover some of the universe's greatest mysteries. The advanced observatory, an 8½ foot-tall cone-shaped telescope with infrared capabilities, will create a 3D map of the entire celestial sky every six months. SPHEREx will also use a technique called spectroscopy to measure the distance to 450 million galaxies in the nearby universe. Astronomers theorize that the distribution of the galaxies was influenced by a universe-expanding event that took place almost 14 billion years ago after the big bang. During its mission, the telescope will also measure the glow of all the galaxies in the universe, which should provide new insights into how galaxies formed and evolved over cosmic time. But the mission isn't only studying faraway galaxies. SPHEREx will also turn its attention to our Milky Way to search for hidden reservoirs of frozen water ice and other molecules, like carbon dioxide, that are essential to life as we know it. When and where did the SPHEREx telescope launch? The telescope got off the ground March 12 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Vandenberg, California. The space observatory shared a ride with the four small satellites that make up NASA's PUNCH mission, which will study how the sun's outer atmosphere becomes solar wind. The two missions are designed to operate in low-Earth orbit in such a way that the sun always remains in the same position relative to each spacecraft. This is essential for SPHEREx to keep its telescope shielded from the sun's light and heat, which would inhibit its observations, and for PUNCH to have a clear view in all directions around the sun, according to NASA. How is SPHEREx different from James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope? NASA believes SPHEREx could complement the famous Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, which have for years already been studying the far corners of the known universe. Hubble and Webb specialize in zooming in on small areas in great detail, unveiling planets, stars and galaxies in high resolution. But some questions "can be answered only by looking at the big picture," according to NASA. That's where SPHEREx comes in. The new telescope could help fill in the gap by getting a wider view of the galaxy – identifying objects of scientific interest that telescopes like Hubble and Webb can then go study up close. The result would provide scientists with a more complete perspective of the universe, according to NASA. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: NASA SPHEREx space telescope unveils 1st look of cosmos: See photos
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's SPHEREx space telescope has begun its mission to map the entire sky in 3D
A space observatory designed to map the entire sky over a period of two years to further our understanding of the early universe has started snapping images. SPHEREx, which launched in early March, got started with its observations this past week after over a month of setup procedures and system checks, according to NASA. The space telescope will complete about 14.5 orbits of Earth per day, capturing roughly 3,600 images daily and observing the sky in an unprecedented 102 wavelengths of infrared light. Its observations will eventually be combined to create four 'all-sky' maps. SPHEREx's 25 month survey will be a comprehensive one. The spacecraft 'orbits Earth from north to south, passing over the poles, and each day it takes images along one circular strip of the sky,' NASA explains. 'As the days pass and the planet moves around the Sun, SPHEREx's field of view shifts as well so that after six months, the observatory will have looked out into space in every direction.' Researchers will use the SPHEREx observations to study the universe's expansion in the moments after the big bang, and search for the ingredients for life elsewhere in the Milky Way.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's new space observatory is mapping the entire sky in 3D
After passing all the necessary checks and calibrations, NASA says its SPHEREx space observatory is ready to embark on its expansive mission. As of May 1, the spacecraft has begun imaging a 3D map of the entire sky and its hundreds of millions of galaxies. But in order to complete such a massive objective, SPHEREx is going to need to take a lot of photos—about 3,600 per day over the next two years, to be more specific. Pointed away from Earth about 404 miles overhead, the orbital observatory will circle the planet from north to south about 14.5 times each day as it images a single, circular strip of the sky. Given Earth's own solar orbit, it will only take about six months for SPHEREx to have glimpsed space in every direction at least once. Technically, each picture is a composite of images from six separate detectors designed for specific light wavelengths. This set of six images is referred to as an exposure, with about 600 exposures produced by SPHEREx per day. SPHEREx also alters its position after every exposure, but it does not use thrusters to shift. Instead, it uses a system of spinning reaction wheels inside the spacecraft. While other projects like COBE have previously mapped the whole sky, SPHEREx is the first to do it across so many color spectrums. Using spectroscopy, the observatory splits light across 102 infrared wavelengths that are invisible to the human eye. This will allow the observatory to construct a better 3D map that includes distances between galaxies in all directions, as well as measure the collective glow from every galaxy that's ever existed. The method also enables SPHEREx to provide information about a cosmic object's composition, which can help search for key ingredients for life like water molecules. Peering deep into the sky will additionally provide details about the first fraction of a second that followed the big bang, when cosmic inflation expanded the universe a 'trillion-trillionfold,' according to NASA. SPHEREx team members are already excited by what they've seen of the observatory. 'The performance of the instrument is as good as we hoped,' said principal investigator Jamie Bock. 'That means we're going to be able to do all the amazing science we planned on and perhaps even get some unexpected discoveries.' 'We're going to study what happened on the smallest size scales in the universe's earliest moments by looking at the modern universe on the largest scales,' said Jim Fanson, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 'I think there's a poetic arc to that.'
