What is the Spitzer space telescope?
The Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared space telescope launched by NASA on August 25, 2003. It is the fourth and final of the Earth-orbiting instruments in NASA’s huge Observation program, after Hubble, Compton, and Chandra. Named after astronomer Lyman Spitzer, who proposed the concept of a telescope in space, it is the most sensitive infrared telescope ever flown. The primary mirror is 3.5 m (11 ft) in diameter. The telescope’s mission is to study the origin of stars and galaxies. The telescope’s four primary instruments work together to observe the universe in infrared light. Data from the Spitzer Space Telescope has improved our understanding of star formation, galaxies, and dusty debris disks around young stars. In addition, SST has been used to detect extrasolar planets.
Ten things about Spitzer
There are ten essential facts you need to have information about Spitzer, and they are as follows:
- Spitzer telescope; NASA’s giant observatory
In 2003, Nasa launched the Spitzer Space Telescope, one of the most potent infrared observatories ever put into space. Spitzer is designed to study everything from star formation and planetary systems to distant galaxies and black holes, and the telescope has made some significant discoveries in its time. It was the fourth and final of the Nasa biggest Observation programmes, following the Hubble Telescope, the Chandra X-ray programme, and Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The telescope was named after Lyman Spitzer, Jr., who had first proposed the concept of a space telescope in 1946. Spitzer is credited with being the “father of infrared astronomy.”
- Operations of Spitzer in infrared light
Unlike its predecessors, Spitzer operates in infrared light. This gives it a unique ability to study more extraordinary objects in space, such as planets orbiting other stars, than would be possible with optical telescopes such as Hubble. Since its launch on August 25, 2002, the Spitzer Space Telescope has been orbiting the Sun, studying everything from asteroids to the most distant galaxies. Some of its most important findings have come from studying planets outside our solar system, including discovering water vapor in five different worlds. In addition to its infrared capabilities, Spitzer also features a wide field of view that is perfect for capturing large swaths of the sky. This has helped it to develop a map of the entire infrared sky.
- The first spaceship to fly around Earth’s orbit
The Spitzer Space Telescope was the first spacecraft to fly in an Earth-trailing orbit around the Sun. Launched on August 25, 2003, its primary mission was to study the infrared spectrum of the universe. In addition to its primary mission, Spitzer has also been used for other purposes, such as detecting extrasolar planets and measuring debris disks around stars. Despite not being designed for a search for habitable planets like NASA’s Kepler mission, Spitzer has found several potential candidates.
- The cold mission of Spitzer
The Spitzer Space Telescope was initially a “cold mission,” It was optimized to detect infrared radiation from icy objects. Launched on August 25, 2003, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Spitzer discovered several hundred thousand galaxies beyond the Milky Way and mapped the distribution of gas and dust within the galaxy. In May 2009, NASA extended Spitzer’s lifetime by two years.
- A warm mission that turned out to be cold
The Spitzer Space Telescope was a spacecraft about the size of an SUV, and it orbited around the Sun. One of its primary tasks was to look for planets that were orbiting other stars. In 2009, a team of scientists announced that they had found evidence of a planet orbiting two stars. The Earth was called Tatooine, after the planetEarth in the movie “Star Wars,” which also orbits two stars. Telescopes have been around for centuries, but the infrared Spitzer telescope has allowed us to see things we never could before. After its launch in 2003, the telescope has completed a “warm mission” that is still going on today. The warm mission is when the telescope is used in a way that does not require it to be cold, and this is done by using special instruments that help protect it from the Sun’s heat. The warm mission has allowed us to study things like star formation and the movement of stars.
- Spitzer’s work in its specific area
Spitzer’s primary mission was to study the infrared emissions from stars and galaxies—exoplanets (planets outside of our solar system) were not a part of the plan. But in 2005, just two years after launch, Spitzer found two new planets orbiting a star very near our own Sun. This started an exoplanet bonanza that has continued to this day. While Spitzer wasn’t explicitly designed to study exoplanets, this original mission has led to many groundbreaking discoveries. For example, Spitzer accurately calculated the size and temperature of exoplanets for the first time, giving scientists a much better understanding.
- Window into past
The Spitzer Space Telescope has provided scientists with a view of the universe that they could never have imagined. Launched in 2003, it was designed to study the infrared spectrum of the cosmos. What does that mean for us? It implies that Spitzer has been able to look at things that are usually too faint or too far away to see, like the formation of stars and galaxies in the early universe. In this way, Spitzer is like a time machine, giving us a glimpse into the distant past.
- Discovery of Saturn’s most giant ring
On March 13, just before 9 p.m. EST, astronomers at the Spitzer Space Telescope announced they had made a momentous discovery: Saturn’s most giant ring. The ring is thought to be composed of icy particles and spans an impressive 187,000 miles from the planet’s atmosphere to its G-ring, the outermost of Saturn’s rings. It was previously known that this region hosts a dusty disk, but its proper shape and size were until now unknown.
- Beyond phase
The telescope has been credited with making some of the most extraordinary discoveries in outer space, including finding water on Mars and successfully observing galaxies formed when the universe was young. After a decade of service, the telescope is now in its “Beyond Phase” as it’s running out of fuel; but that doesn’t mean it’s done yet.
- An infrared telescope of future
Since its launch in 2003, the Spitzer Space Telescope has allowed us to view the universe in infrared light. This spectrum is crucial for studying objects that are either too cool or too far away to be analyzed using other wavelengths of light. With its latest discovery of a galaxy formed only 400 million years after the Big Bang, Spitzer has shown us that there is still much to learn about the early days of our universe.
