SPHEREx (acronym for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer , translated - Spectrophotometer for studying the history of the Universe, the era of reionization and ice ) is a planned near-infrared space telescope that will conduct panoramic exploration of the sky. In the opening season of 2019, NASA selected SPHEREx as the next middle-class mission of the Explorer program [3] [4] . The launch of SPHEREx is scheduled for 2023.
| SPHEREx | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Wave range | Near infrared |
| Launch date | December 31, 2023 [1] |
| Duration | 25 months |
| Weight | 69 kg [2] |
| Diameter | 20 cm [2] |
| Scientific instruments | |
| 0.75 - 5.0 μm |
| Website | spherex.caltech.edu |
Overview
SPHEREx will use a spectrophotometer for a panoramic view of the sky, which will operate in the near infrared range from 0.75 to 5.0 micrometers. It is planned to carry out four full sky surveys within 25 months of the planned mission [5] . It is planned to estimate the redshifts of about 450 million galaxies, the cosmological inflation parameters of the early Universe, and to study the prevalence and composition of water and nutrient ice in the early stages of the formation of stars and residual disks [5] [6] [2] .
SPHEREx will complement the planned spectroscopic studies of the Euclid and WFIRST missions . In this case, SPHEREx will operate in a lower redshift range, which will allow an independent assessment of inflation parameters for more accurate estimates [2] [5] .
The telescope lens will have a diameter of 20 cm with a wide field of view (3.5 ° x 7 °) [2] .
History
A proposal for the development of SPHEREx was submitted to NASA on December 19, 2014. On July 30, 2015, a decision was made on further conceptual development (phase A) within the framework of the Small Explorer (SMEX) program [7] [8] . On July 16, 2016, a detailed conceptual study was presented at NASA, but it was not selected for the SMEX program.
On December 15, 2016, an expanded version of SPHEREx was presented as part of the Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX) program. In August 2017, she reached the final with the missions Arcus and FINESSE [4] . All three finalists received $ 2 million each for a detailed study of the concept over the next nine months [4] . In February 2019, SPHEREx was selected as the winner of the competition. It is planned that the launch of the spectrophotometer will take place in 2023 [3] . The cost of the mission will amount to $ 250 million excluding the cost of launch [4] .
Notes
- ↑ SPHEREx . NASA (February 18, 2019).
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Proposed Astrophysics Mission to Conduct the First Infrared Spectral Survey of the Entire Sky . AstroWatch.net (August 27, 2017).
- ↑ 1 2 Cofield, Calla & Cole, Steve. NASA Selects New Mission to Explore Origins of Universe NASA (February 13, 2019).
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Brown, Katherine NASA Selects Proposals to Study Galaxies, Stars, Planets . NASA (August 10, 2017).
- ↑ 1 2 3 SPHEREx Science . CalTech.edu.
- ↑ Clery, Daniel Missions to probe exoplanets, galaxies, and cosmic inflation vie for $ 250 million . Science Magazine (August 16, 2017).
- ↑ SPHEREx News . SPHEREx.Caltech.edu.
- ↑ Northon, Karen NASA Selects Proposals to Study Neutron Stars, Black Holes and More . NASA News (July 30, 2015).