Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
NASA’s new SPHEREx telescope will map the entire sky, capturing the faint cosmic glow of hundreds of millions of galaxies since the dawn of time.
Though it won't see the Big Bang itself, SPHEREx will detect its lingering light, helping scientists unravel the story of the universe’s explosive birth and expansion.
With 102 invisible infrared colors, SPHEREx will create the most colorful, complete sky map ever, unveiling cosmic secrets hidden to the human eye.
Closer to home, SPHEREx will search for water and organic molecules in icy clouds where new stars and planets are born, hunting for life’s building blocks.
Unlike Hubble or Webb, SPHEREx isn’t zooming in — it's scanning the whole sky every six months, layering four full-sky surveys over two years for unprecedented data.
By capturing the combined light of galaxies, SPHEREx will reveal how galaxies formed and evolved, offering a new lens on the universe’s mysterious early years.
To stay frosty in space, SPHEREx uses a three-cone aluminum shield, keeping its detectors at -350°F, resembling a giant cosmic "cone collar" against the heat of Earth and Sun.
Launched alongside SPHEREx, NASA’s Punch satellites will study the Sun’s corona and solar wind, giving Earth a better understanding of solar storms.
SPHEREx will paint the cosmos in rainbow hues, its infrared tech turning invisible light into a colorful cosmic map — a stunning portrait of the universe’s hidden energy.