Distant galaxy HUDF-JD2 (enclosed in circles) as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope in the infrared (bottom right), by the Hubble Space Telescope in visible light (top right) and in the near-infrared (bottom left), and in a combination of the Hubble and Spitzer images (top left). In August 2010, data from Spitzer revealed the identification of the first carbon-rich planet (known as WASP-12b) orbiting a star. The Spitzer observatory began operating in 2003 and spent more than 16 years gathering information on the origin, evolution, and composition of planets and smaller bodies, stars, galaxies, and the universe as a whole. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Full image and caption. Spitzer was launched at 05:35:39 UT Aug. 25, 2003, on a Delta II Heavy (in a two-stage Delta 7925H configuration) inserted the second stage and payload. That shield was the Moon, says a NASA-led study. Dr. Lori Glaze Kristen Erickson Spitzer determined the temperature and the atmospheric structure, composition, and dynamics of several extrasolar planets. Three of the planets are firmly located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water. The CTA was cooled to 5 degrees above absolute zero (minus 450 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 268 degrees Celsius) using 95 gallons (360 liters) of liquid helium to ensure that the observatory’s “body heat” did not interfere with the observation of relatively cold cosmic objects. The instance when the Sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length is called: Composite image of the Henize 206 nebula taken by the infrared array camera (IRAC) aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope. MEDLI2 is a collection of sensors that take measurements during the atmospheric entry phase of the Mars 2020 mission. Credit: NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD), Oort Cloud and Scale of the Solar System (Infographic). The observatory has worked far longer than expected, but its supply of liquid helium finally depleted at 22:11 UT May 15, 2009, nearly six years after launch. Spitzer’s 5.5-year cryogenic mission was thus followed by a “warm Spitzer” mission, which lasted until the satellite was decommissioned on January 30, 2020. Corrections? Continuing discoveries based on results from Spitzer (as well as data integrated with information from other space-based observatories such as Swift) were announced in April 2015 (discovery of one of the most distant planets ever identified, about 13,000 light-years from Earth) and in March 2016 (discovery of the most remote galaxy ever detected, a high-redshift galaxy known as GN-z11). In October 2017, NASA announced that it was seeking information from potential funders who might be able to support operation of the telescope after NASA funding runs out. Simultaneously, its solar panels will be pointed away from the Sun in this configuration, thus putting onboard batteries under more stress. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Science Target For years, astronomers have tried to place telescopes above atmosphere, to catch a glimpse of an otherwise hidden infrared universe. Some supermassive black holes launch powerful beams of material, while others do not. Because Spitzer was sensitive to infrared radiation emitted from dust, it also discovered Saturn’s outermost ring, which extends from 7.3 to 11.8 million km (4.6 to 7.4 million miles) from Saturn and is the largest planetary ring in the solar system. This illustration shows Jezero Crater — the landing site of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover — as it may have looked billions of years ago. Much of the satellite’s own heat was radiated into the cold vacuum of space, so that only a small amount of precious liquid helium cryogen was needed to maintain the telescope at its operating temperature of 5–15 K (−268 to −258 °C, or −450 to −432 °F). Announcing our NEW encyclopedia for Kids! This site is maintained by the Planetary Science Communications team at, Delta II Heavy (in a two-stage Delta 7925H configuration) inserted the second stage and payload. It studied the cosmos at infrared wavelengths. xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'">. To reduce interference caused by thermal radiation from the environment and from their own components, infrared space observatories require cryogenic cooling, typically to temperatures as low as 5 K (−268 °C, or −450 °F). Here are 10 things to know about Bennu. In August 2016, mission planners at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced a new phase of the mission known as “Spitzer Beyond,” leveraged on a two-and-a-half-year mission extension granted by NASA earlier in the year. Because the distance between Spitzer and Earth has widened over time, the telescope’s antenna must be pointed at higher angles toward the Sun to communicate with Earth. The initial orbit was 103 × 104 miles (166 × 167 kilometers) at 31.5 degrees. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. It was built around an all-beryllium 85-cm (33-inch) primary mirror that focused infrared light on three instruments: a general-purpose near-infrared camera, a spectrograph sensitive to mid-infrared wavelengths, and an imaging photometer taking measurements in three far-infrared bands. Spitzer also observed the transits of the seven Earth-sized planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, three of which are in the star’s habitable zone, the distance from a star where liquid water can survive on a planet’s surface. In 2009, Spitzer found a ring of Saturn, a wispy, fine structure with 300 times the diameter of the gas giant planet. At this temperature, Spitzer’s two shortest-wavelength-detector arrays continued to operate without any loss of sensitivity.