The mission will increase our understanding of how the universe expanded rapidly right after the big bang took place.
The data collected by the space observatory will result in a 3D map of the sky, making it the first NASA mission to create a whole-sky spectroscopy map in near-infrared light. The name “SPHEREx” is an abbreviation of Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer.
The space observatory, which will be similar in size to a subcompact car, is expected to launch between June 2024 and April 2025.
Countless galaxies and stars follow
The instruments on SPHEREx will detect the sky in both visible light and near infrared light. The human eye cannot see near-infrared light, but it has helped astronomers look into otherwise invisible aspects of space and learn more about the universe.
His instruments will use spectroscopy to separate the near infrared light that the telescope can see into individual wavelengths. This data can shed light on the composition of an object or even its distance from Earth.
“It’s like going from black and white images to color; it’s like going from Kansas to Oz,” Allen Farrington, the SPHEREx project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement.
Scientists expect to collect data on more than 300 million near and distant galaxies – some of which are so distant that it took 10 billion years for their light to reach Earth.
The telescope will also examine more than 100 million stars in our Milky Way Galaxy in search of water ice and other organic molecules in stellar nurseries and areas around stars where new planets may form. These star birthplaces, where stars converge from gas and dust, may hold evidence of the ingredients for life.
At the end of the mission, astronomers expect a map of the entire sky that surpasses the resolution of previous comparable maps, the agency said.
The SPHEREx space telescope will also be able to identify objects of interest for other NASA missions to observe in greater detail.
Indications of new star formations
The mission team has a number of specific goals for SPHEREx.
The scientists will look for evidence of the universe’s inflation a split second after the Big Bang, when space as we know it was expanding rapidly. This would have changed the way matter was distributed. Evidence of that inflation may be the patterns and positioning of galaxies in the universe.
Astronomers also want to learn more about the history of galaxy formation, including the first stars to form after the Big Bang. Galaxies have a faint glow. This glow varies across space depending on the placement of galaxies, as some of them tend to stay in groups called clusters. Maps created by SPHEREx that split light into different color bands can reveal more information about the first galaxies that formed stars.
By taking a closer look at the formation of new stars in the Milky Way, astronomers can also learn more about how young planetary systems form. Planets are formed from the remnants of the creation of stars – essentially disks of gas, dust and water ice swirling together. That leftover water ice could essentially bring water and other organic molecules to planets – just as water was delivered to the early Earth.
This will tell scientists whether our planetary system, which includes the Earth and its ability to support life, is common or rare.
Final design and assembly
Officials at NASA announced this week that the mission has entered Phase C, meaning early design plans have been approved and teams can begin final design and assemble hardware and software. The California Institute of Technology and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will develop the instruments on SPHEREx, while the spacecraft itself will be built by Ball Aerospace.
The SPHEREx team will spend the next 29 months building these components before entering the next mission phase: assembly, testing and launch.