The SPHEREx mission, a new NASA observatory launched into space, aims to map the entire celestial sky and study hundreds of millions of galaxies to understand how the universe formed and evolved. The launch was delayed multiple times but finally took place from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The $488 million observatory will survey the sky four times over two years, observing in 102 different colors, most of which are in the infrared range. Infrared light carries important information about the composition, density, temperature, and chemical makeup of celestial objects. The SPHEREx observatory will use spectroscopy to analyze this light and provide insights into the characteristics and chemistry of galaxies. The data collected could help scientists study galaxy formation, trace the origins of water in the Milky Way, and shed light on what happened in the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, which occurred around 13.8 billion years ago. Deployed alongside the observatory were four suitcase-sized satellites for a separate mission to study the sun. This mission could help scientists unravel some of the mysteries of the universe’s origins and evolution.
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