NASA’s latest astrophysics space telescope, SPHEREx, launched in March and has now settled into low-Earth orbit. The mission aims to create an all-sky map of the universe, delivering its sky survey data to a public archive weekly, inviting astronomers and enthusiasts to explore the mysteries of the cosmos.
“Because we’re looking at everything in the whole sky, almost every area of astronomy can be addressed by SPHEREx data,” said Rachel Akeson, the lead for the SPHEREx Science Data Center at IPAC, a science and data center for astrophysics and planetary science based at Caltech in Pasadena, California.
Building on the legacy of previous missions like NASA’s now-retired WISE, which mapped the entire sky, SPHEREx distinguishes itself by observing in 102 infrared wavelengths, compared to WISE’s four.
One of the primary techniques employed by scientists using SPHEREx data is spectroscopy, which allows them to identify the signatures of specific molecules. This method will enable the science team to investigate the distribution of frozen water and organic molecules considered the “building blocks of life” within our galaxy.
Additionally, the mission’s data will help study the physics that contributed to the universe’s expansion after the Big Bang, as well as track the light emitted by all the galaxies over time. By making this data public, SPHEREx opens the door for a wealth of astronomical research beyond what the team could undertake alone.
“By making the data public, we enable the whole astronomy community to use SPHEREx data to work on all these other areas of science,” Akeson explained.
Aligned with NASA’s commitment to scientific transparency, SPHEREx ensures that data collected from its observations is archived publicly within 60 days. This short timeframe allows for necessary processing to eliminate or flag artifacts, account for detector effects, and align images with correct astronomical coordinates.
The SPHEREx team also publishes the procedures used during data processing alongside the data products. “We want enough information in those files that people can do their own research,” Akeson added.
During its two-year prime mission, SPHEREx is set to survey the entire sky twice annually, resulting in four all-sky maps. After the first year, the team intends to release a comprehensive map of the whole sky across all 102 infrared wavelengths.
The potential of SPHEREx expands even further when its data is combined with information from other missions. For instance, SPHEREx data can be utilized to identify exciting targets for additional exploration by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. It can also refine exoplanet parameters gathered from NASA’s TESS and contribute to studies of dark matter and dark energy alongside the ESA’s Euclid mission and NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
“SPHEREx is part of the entire legacy of NASA space surveys,” said IRSA Science Lead Vandana Desai. “People are going to use the data in all kinds of ways that we can’t imagine.”
NASA’s Office of the Chief Science Data Officer oversees the agency’s open science initiatives, believing that public sharing of scientific data, tools, research, and software maximizes the impact of NASA’s science missions. To further explore NASA’s commitment to scientific transparency and reproducibility, interested individuals can visit science.nasa.gov/open-science. To keep up with developments and stories about NASA’s science data, one can sign up for the NASA Open Science newsletter.
More About SPHEREx
Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the SPHEREx mission is part of the agency’s Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The telescope and spacecraft bus were constructed by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado.
Scientific analysis of SPHEREx data will be conducted by a diverse team from 10 U.S. institutions, along with two from South Korea and one from Taiwan. Instrument management and integration were overseen by Caltech in Pasadena, with the mission’s principal investigator stationed at Caltech and holding a joint appointment at JPL.
Processing and archiving of the data will take place at IPAC at Caltech. The SPHEREx dataset will be made publicly accessible at the NASA-IPAC Infrared Science Archive. Caltech manages JPL on behalf of NASA.
To learn more about SPHEREx, visit:
https://nasa.gov/SPHEREx
image source from：jpl
