NASA's SPHEREx Observatory Completes First Cosmic Map

NASA's SPHEREx space telescope has successfully completed its first all-sky infrared map in 102 colors, capturing vast cosmic features invisible to the human eye. Launched in March, SPHEREx has been collecting data since May, resulting in a comprehensive view of the universe's structure and evolution.

This achievement allows scientists to investigate significant cosmic events, such as the inflation that occurred shortly after the Big Bang, and how galaxies have evolved over nearly 14 billion years. The telescope, which orbits the Earth about 14.5 times daily, will conduct three additional all-sky scans during its two-year mission, providing an unprecedented multiwavelength perspective of hundreds of millions of galaxies.

The data collected is available to the public and scientists alike, promising to unlock new discoveries in astrophysics. According to Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division, the information gathered is invaluable for understanding fundamental questions about the universe's origins and its evolution into a habitable environment for life.