NASA to soon launch newest astrophysics observatory ‘SPHEREx’

JACKSON, Tenn. — NASA’s newest astrophysics observatory is SPHEREx. The space telescope will observe hundreds of millions of galaxies near and far, mapping the entire sky in 102 wavelengths that are invisible to the human eye.

This will help scientists answer major questions about why the universe looks the way it does, how galaxies form and evolve, and the origins and abundance of water and other key ingredients for life in our galaxy.

SPHEREx provides a big-picture view of the universe, complementing the work of more targeted telescopes like NASA’s Hubble and Webb.

“If you’ve ever seen an eclipse, such as the one last spring, you’ve seen the corona around the sun. That’s the outer, ultra hot atmosphere. It’s so hot that the star itself can’t hold it in. That material is constantly washing out through the solar system and over us. It causes space weather, and it’s the largest thing in the sky,” said Craig Deforest, principle investigator for Punch.

Ride-sharing with SPHEREx is NASA’s PUNCH Mission.

Punch will close a 60-year gap of knowledge about how the outer atmosphere of the sun, the corona, becomes solar wind.

Punch will utilize four small satellites to provide the first-ever 3D global view of the sun’s solar wind that gives rise to the magnificent northern and southern light shows called auroras.

Officials say SPHEREx and PUNCH will be launching together from Vandenberg, California, as early as February 27, 2025.

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