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NASA is preparing to launch the SPHEREx mission, which will create the most colorful three-dimensional map of the sky, helping to answer fundamental questions about the universe.
The spacecraft launch is scheduled for February 28, after which it will perform four full sky scans over two years. Each point in the sky will be displayed in 102 spectral colors, which significantly exceeds the capabilities of previous maps. The mission will cover a variety of objects - from comets in the Solar System to distant galaxies.
As Olivier Doré, the principal scientist of the SPHEREx project, notes:
The name SPHEREx stands for “Spectrophotometer for the Study of the History of the Universe, the Epoch of Reionization and Ices,” which corresponds to the three main goals of the mission. The first is to study the Universe in its earliest moments after the Big Bang. The second is to calculate the total amount of light emitted by all galaxies over the history of existence. The third is to detect water and other vital substances in the Milky Way.
To achieve these goals, SPHEREx will analyze the spectrum of light coming from different parts of space. By measuring the “redshift”, the distance to the source of the radiation and the direction of its movement will be determined. As a result, scientists will receive giant 3D map, which contains information on approximately 450 million galaxies.
This map will allow us to test models of cosmic inflation, a period when the universe expanded rapidly just after the Big Bang. If the distribution of galaxies turns out to be uniform, it would confirm a simple inflationary model, perhaps related to a hypothetical particle inflatonIf the distribution turns out to be uneven, this may indicate the existence of unknown physical fields or particles.
In addition to global surveys, SPHEREx will help calculate all the light that galaxies have ever emitted. The data obtained will allow us to determine: where the light came from, when it was emitted, and how its intensity changed during the evolution of the Universe.
Another important goal is to search for life-sustaining molecules in our galaxy. SPHEREx will make over 9 million observations stellar molecular cloudsby studying their chemical composition. The spectral signature can determine the presence of water ice, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide – components that are critical for the formation of planets with conditions favorable for life.
Regardless of the results obtained, SPHEREx will be an invaluable source of data for future researchIn particular, it will be able to work effectively in tandem with other telescopes, such as JWST.
As Gary Melnick, a member of the SPHEREx science team, notes:
This partnership will allow you to get the most detailed view of the most remote corners of the Universe, revealing the secrets of its evolution and potential habitable worlds.
