NASA is preparing to launch a new space telescope, SPHEREx, to study the origins of the universe and search for water in space. This telescope will be sent into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission aims to answer fundamental questions about how the universe evolved after the Big Bang and to map the distribution of galaxies across space.
Understanding the universe’s beginning
SPHEREx, which stands for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer, is designed to study a phenomenon known as cosmic inflation. This refers to the rapid expansion of the universe that took place just a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, which happened around 13.8 billion years ago.
Scientists believe that cosmic inflation played a crucial role in shaping the universe, but they still do not fully understand how it happened. According to Jim Fanson, project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “It postulates that the universe expanded by a trillion-fold in a small fraction of a second after the Big Bang.” By mapping galaxies across the sky, SPHEREx will help scientists better understand cosmic inflation and provide insights into the forces that shaped the cosmos.
Searching for water in space
Apart from studying the early universe, SPHEREx will also focus on our own galaxy, the Milky Way, to look for frozen water and other molecules in space. Scientists believe that water in space is often trapped in interstellar dust grains inside giant clouds of gas and dust where new stars and planets are born.
SPHEREx will use spectroscopy to analyse light from billions of cosmic sources such as stars, galaxies, and interstellar clouds. This will help researchers determine what these objects are made of and how far away they are. According to Olivier Dore, a cosmologist at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “By mapping the distribution of galaxies over the whole sky, we can directly constrain unique properties of inflation. This is why we want to map the whole sky and why we need spectroscopy to make the map 3D.”
During its two-year mission, SPHEREx will study more than 450 million galaxies and over 100 million stars in our Milky Way. It will create a 3D map of the universe using 102 different colours, each representing a specific type of light. This information will help scientists understand how galaxies were formed and how they have changed over time. It will also help them find water and organic molecules in space, which are essential for life. Additionally, SPHEREx will provide insights into how the universe is structured on a large scale.
The mission could also lead to unexpected discoveries, as every time astronomers observe space in a new way, they uncover new cosmic phenomena. “The fact is, SPHEREx will look at the sky in totally new ways,” said Dore. “It will be an unprecedented dataset to mine, and there is no doubt in my mind we will discover new cosmic phenomena.”
SPHEREx and the PUNCH mission
SPHEREx is not the only mission launching aboard the Falcon 9 rocket. Along with it, NASA is sending a constellation of small satellites as part of the PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission. PUNCH will observe the Sun’s corona (its outermost layer) and study the solar wind, which is the constant stream of charged particles flowing from the Sun. This information will help scientists better understand the sun’s behaviour and its impact on Earth’s space environment.
Why this mission matters
SPHEREx is an exciting project because it combines cosmology (the study of the universe) with astrobiology (the search for life-supporting conditions in space). By looking for water and organic molecules in star-forming regions, scientists can learn more about the conditions that might support life beyond Earth.
Moreover, by exploring the earliest moments of the universe, SPHEREx could provide answers to longstanding mysteries about how galaxies, stars, and planets came into existence. Scientists hope that this telescope will bridge the gap between theory and observation, offering a new perspective on the vast universe we live in.
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