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NASA’s Newest Telescope Just Woke Up and It’s About to Change Astronomy
Scitech Daily ^ | March 12, 2025 | NASA

Posted on 03/12/2025 5:34:33 AM PDT by Red Badger

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites, launches from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. SPHEREx will use its telescope to provide an all-sky spectral survey, creating a 3D map of the entire sky to help scientists investigate the origins of our universe. PUNCH will study origins of the Sun’s outflow of material, or the solar wind, capturing continuous 3D images of the Sun’s corona and the solar wind’s journey into the solar system. Credit: NASA/Jim Ross

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NASA’s SPHEREx mission has successfully communicated with Earth, marking the start of an ambitious journey to map the cosmos. Over the next two years, the telescope will scan the entire sky, gathering data from over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars to unlock the universe’s origins.

NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission has successfully established communication with Earth, confirming that the spacecraft is operating as expected and generating power.

In the coming weeks, the SPHEREx team will prepare the observatory for its science mission. This includes calibrating its instruments, cooling the telescope to its optimal operating temperature, and assessing its optical performance in space.

A Mission to Unravel the Universe’s Origins

Over its planned two-year mission, SPHEREx will survey more than 450 million galaxies and over 100 million stars in the Milky Way. By studying the origins of the universe, it will contribute to NASA’s broader goal of uncovering cosmic mysteries and searching for conditions that could support life elsewhere.

A 3D Map of the Cosmos

The mission’s 3D all-sky map will help scientists answer big-picture questions about the universe. The mission will investigate a cosmic phenomenon called inflation that caused the universe to expand rapidly for a fraction of a second after the big bang, measure the collective glow created by galaxies near and far, including hidden galaxies that have not been individually observed, and search the Milky Way galaxy for hidden reservoirs of water, carbon dioxide, and other essential ingredients for life.

A New Era of Space Exploration

The SPHEREx mission’s ability to scan large sections of the sky quickly and gather data on millions of objects complements the work of more targeted telescopes, like NASA’s Hubble and James Webb, and the observatory’s data will be freely available to scientists around the world, providing a new encyclopedia of information about hundreds of millions of cosmic objects.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Education; History; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; cosmos; falcon9; hubble; punch; science; spacex; spectrophotometer; spherex; webb
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1 posted on 03/12/2025 5:34:33 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: MtnClimber; SunkenCiv; rktman; mowowie; SuperLuminal; Cottonbay

PING!.....................


2 posted on 03/12/2025 5:35:19 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger
PUNCH will study origins of the Sun’s outflow of material, or the solar wind...

I wonder if it will be discovered that the Sun is the primary source of energy driving Earth's climate? 🙃

3 posted on 03/12/2025 5:43:14 AM PDT by Tommy Revolts
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To: Tommy Revolts

Verboten!.....................


4 posted on 03/12/2025 5:44:15 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Tommy Revolts

If we could just extinguish the sun then we could solve globull warming, or perhaps just install a dimmer😂


5 posted on 03/12/2025 5:49:06 AM PDT by blitz128
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To: blitz128

6 posted on 03/12/2025 5:52:16 AM PDT by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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To: Red Badger

Well I wonder what kind of overly enhanced or down right fake pics we’ll see out of this one!??


7 posted on 03/12/2025 5:52:20 AM PDT by sit-rep
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To: Red Badger

There’s nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth!


8 posted on 03/12/2025 5:54:50 AM PDT by equaviator (If 60 is the new 40 then 35 must be the new 15.)
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To: Red Badger

Ok, yeah: I’m a geek.

This (hard science) excites me, no different than digging in the dirt/jungles.

Thanks for posting!


9 posted on 03/12/2025 5:57:56 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: Tommy Revolts

Methinks that under THIS administration we might get hard data without bias.


10 posted on 03/12/2025 5:58:46 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: blitz128

Good thing the Nexus is fantasy /s

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111280/


11 posted on 03/12/2025 6:01:50 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: sit-rep

Uh oh, is this NASA conspiracy theories? Aside from aliens, what would NASA have to gain from fake pictures?


12 posted on 03/12/2025 6:04:32 AM PDT by clutzyfuzzy
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To: sit-rep
Well I wonder what kind of overly enhanced or down right fake pics we’ll see out of this one!??

None, as usual.

13 posted on 03/12/2025 6:05:05 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: Red Badger

Crap! They might spot me now.


14 posted on 03/12/2025 6:06:37 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within ? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)
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To: logi_cal869

Lol


15 posted on 03/12/2025 6:07:32 AM PDT by blitz128
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To: Red Badger

I watched the launch last night. I’m looking forward to the data from these two.


16 posted on 03/12/2025 6:17:54 AM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: clutzyfuzzy

are you kidding me!?? obviously you dont click into astronomy posts here on FR very often... they are AT LEAST 60% overly enhanced, Fake, or extreme whacked out “Artist Renditions”. AI is destroying the true nature of everything!!! and most think its wonderful!! I say BS!! children go to these places to learn. and instead of real pictures, they get AI, fakes and renditions!! THAT is a crime!! IMHO....


17 posted on 03/12/2025 6:21:30 AM PDT by sit-rep
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To: Red Badger

Someone should Ask AOC how NASA would get that and other satellites into orbit without Musk, since NASA has nothing to orbit them with.


18 posted on 03/12/2025 6:21:39 AM PDT by Mastador1
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To: blitz128
perhaps just install a dimmer

That's what Bill Gates is trying to do - dump tons of Sulfur Dioxide into the upper atmosphere to BLOCK OUT THE SUN.

Sulfur Dioxide plus water vapor equals SULFUROUS ACID.

19 posted on 03/12/2025 6:53:32 AM PDT by FroggyTheGremlim (Hail to Pitt!)
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To: sit-rep
instead of real pictures, they get AI, fakes and renditions!! THAT is a crime!! IMHO....

Absolutely agree with you. I have a love/hate relationship with many NASA APOD photos every day. I hate the "artist renditions" (they need to put the bong down and just leave things real). I also hate when the photographer has to put him/her self in an image. So many impressive natural phenomenon photos are ruined with the photographer somewhere in them.

20 posted on 03/12/2025 6:54:05 AM PDT by plsvn
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