Great Observatories also included the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The mission was the fourth and final observatory under NASA's Great Observatories program. It is also used to detect dust disks around stars, considered an important signpost of planetary formation. Peering back into the early universe, it looked at young galaxies and forming stars. It was capable of studying objects ranging from our Solar System to the distant reaches of the universe. It consisted of a space-borne, cryogenically cooled telescope with lightweight optics delivered light to advanced, large-format infrared detector arrays The Spitzer Space Telescope - formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility - was an infrared cousin of the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Of the four, only the Hubble and the Chandra now remain active, as the Compton was decommissioned in 2000.Īll of Spitzer's data is free and available to the public in the Spitzer data archive. The Great Observatories program demonstrated the power of using different wavelengths of light to create a fuller picture of the universe, NASA said. Satellite light readings can allow scientists to discern the mass and size of stars in other galaxies and their planets that pass in front of them.
The fab four – Spitzer, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra x-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope – were each built to specifically observe regions of the light spectrum. Spitzer was one of NASA's four Great Observatories – large, powerful space-based astronomical telescopes that were launched between 19.
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The Tarantula Nebula shows of the full breadth of Spitzer's capabilities, according to project scientist Michael Werner from the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in California. Spitzer was retired in January 2020 Sometimes it’s a story about how stars and planets form, and sometimes it’s about a giant monster rampaging through Tokyo.' 'I look for compelling areas that can really tell a story. 'It’s one of the ways that we want people to connect with the incredible work that Spitzer did,' Hurt said. Spitzer was retired in January 2020, but scientists continue to mine its massive dataset for new information about the universe, as well as impressive new images. Nebulas are often named based on what scientists perceive as similarities with Earth-based objects or characters, including a cat's paw, a tarantula and a veil.Īstronomers have also perceived a black widow spider, a Hallowe'en lantern, a snake, an exposed human brain, and the Starship Enterprise, among other things, in Spitzer images. When viewed in visible light, the kind human eyes can detect, this nebula is almost entirely obscured by dust clouds.īut infrared light – wavelengths longer than what our eyes can perceive – can penetrate the clouds, revealing its astonishing beauty.įour colours – blue, cyan, green and red – are used to represent different wavelengths of infrared light yellow and white are combinations of those wavelengths.īlue and cyan represent wavelengths primarily emitted by stars, while dust and organic molecules called hydrocarbons appear green, and warm dust that's been heated by stars or supernovae appears red. 'Located about 7,800 light-years from Earth, the bright region in the lower left, appearing as Godzilla’s right hand, is known as W33.' NASA says: 'Stars in the upper right – where this cosmic Godzilla's eyes and snout are seen – are an unknown distance from Earth but within our galaxy. The Godzilla-like nebula is located in the constellation Sagittarius along the plane of the Milky Way, which was part of Spitzer’s GLIMPSE Survey (Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire). It was the eyes and mouth that roared "Godzilla" to me.' 'Sometimes if you just crop an area differently, it brings out something that you didn't see before. 'I just happened to glance at a region of sky that I've browsed many times before, but I'd never zoomed in on. 'I wasn't looking for monsters,' said Caltech astronomer Robert Hurt, who processed the image and was the first to spot Godzilla. The new image was shared by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by the nearby California Institute of Technology (Caltech).