NASA’s Newest Telescope Just Woke Up and It’s About to Change Astronomy

NASA SPHEREx PUNCH Launch SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket — 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

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the United States government agency responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. Established in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act, NASA has led the U.S. in space exploration efforts, including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle program.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>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 <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="

Milky Way

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System and is part of the Local Group of galaxies. It is a barred spiral galaxy that contains an estimated 100-400 billion stars and has a diameter between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years. The name "Milky Way" comes from the appearance of the galaxy from Earth as a faint band of light that stretches across the night sky, resembling spilled milk.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>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.

NASA SPHEREx Mission Controllers Celebrate — NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission controllers celebrate acquisition of signal after launch on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Credit: NASA+

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 <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="

Big Bang

The Big Bang is the leading cosmological model explaining how the universe as we know it began approximately 13.8 billion years ago.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>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.

Daily News

NASA’s Newest Telescope Just Woke Up and It’s About to Change Astronomy

A Mission to Unravel the Universe’s Origins

A 3D Map of the Cosmos

A New Era of Space Exploration

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