NASA’s New Space Telescope Starts Mapping to Reveal Universe’s Deep Mysteries

NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope has started capturing full-sky images to map galaxies in 3D.

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 5 May 2025 21:24 IST

NASA’s New Space Telescope Starts Mapping to Reveal Universe’s Deep Mysteries

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

SPHEREx will create a colourful all-sky 3D map by capturing 3,600 infrared images daily

Highlights

SPHEREx begins full-sky survey of hundreds of millions of galaxies
NASA telescope captures 3,600 unique cosmic images every day
Mission to reveal the universe’s early inflation and galactic evolution

NASA's SPHEREx space observatory has started capturing 3,600 distinct images every day as it maps the cosmos. Beginning with its launch on March 11, it will make more than 11,000 orbits over two years, circling Earth 14 and half times a day. The mission will produce four all-sky maps in two years, revealing clues into cosmic inflation and the expansion of the universe. The observatory will also map the entire sky in 102 infrared wavelengths of light, providing information about cosmic sources.

SPHEREx Telescope Exceeds Early Goals, Begins Mapping Universe in 3D Infrared Detail

As per a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory report, SPHEREx is already meeting performance expectations, rotating its orientation through reaction wheels rather than traditional thrusters. The telescope captures six different images, catching light in several infrared wavelengths with every exposure. Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting head of NASA's astrophysics division, underlined how the mission supports upcoming projects such as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. SPHEREx's spinning view of the sky also allows it to cover the entire sky every six months and therefore conduct four complete surveys over its two-year lifetime.

SPHEREx will employ spectroscopy to measure the distance between galaxies, creating a 3D cosmic map and revealing how water on Earth came to be and the role interstellar clouds played in the creation of the chemicals necessary for life. It is aimed at more than nine million measurements of the Milky Way, revealing the influence of the environment on cosmic chemistry. As per mission principal investigator Jamie Bock, some team members have worked for over a decade toward this milestone, and the mission could exceed its original scientific goals.

NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Sends First Space Images Before Full Sky Survey

NASA's SPHEREx observations could show signs of cosmic inflation, which powered the expansion of the universe after the Big Bang. These tendencies could expose the structure and history of the universe as well as those of stars and galaxies. Headed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA at Caltech in the USA, SPHEREx is under a worldwide cooperation agreement comprising South Korea and Taiwan. Data analysis investigates the universe downward, closer.

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