BY LAASYA AKI
STAFF WRITER
A mission planned for two years, worth over 240 million dollars, the SPHEREx Observatory will survey space through optical and infrared light telescopes, hopefully helping us answer more questions about the cosmos. This amazing observatory is set to launch on June 17th, 2024. It’s main goal is to record information on galaxies and stars. SPHEREx will help us find the origins of different galaxies, our universe, and water in different planetary systems.
The observatory will use an observing strategy that generates a map at different points of a galaxy to help determine its origins. SPHEREx could be able to tell us when and where the galaxy was originally formed. The SPHEREx telescope is programmed to detect visible light and ultraviolet rays.
The Theory of Inflation assumes that the growth rate of the universe was very, very rapid during the first moments after the big bang. This could be wrong, because the Theory of Inflation and the Big Bang Theory are just theories, they have not been proven. Even though they are the most widely accepted explanation for the formation of the universe, there are still other explanations different scientists believe. SPHEREx has technology that allows it to sense these inflationary “ripples” of space disturbance.
Scientists have found evidence that water used to exist on Mars, where else? SPHEREx will help resolve questions about water and other biogenic molecules in different planets and stars. It will probe these extraterrestrial bodies for different biogenic molecules in different phases of the bodies’ formation.
The SPHEREx observatory is one of NASA’s greatest and most amazing orbiters. It’s camera is said to have the highest resolution yet, compared to all other NASA telescopes. This observatory can really help us gain a deeper understanding about our universe and everything inside of it. SPHEREx is the next step forward in our journey through understanding our cosmos.
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