Exploring Water Ice in the Milky Way: NASA’s SPHEREx Mission
NASA is getting ready to launch a new space mission known as SPHEREx. This exciting project will explore our galaxy, the Milky Way, with the primary goal of finding water ice and other vital materials that are key to the development of life. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than February 27, with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Once it is operational, SPHEREx will study regions in space known as molecular clouds, where stars and planets are formed. This mission will help scientists learn how these life-sustaining materials are distributed in the galaxy and how they contribute to the evolution of planets.
Mapping Molecular Clouds
SPHEREx is designed to carry out a large-scale survey of the Milky Way, making it different from previous space telescopes. While other missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the older Spitzer Space Telescope, focused their observations on specific areas, SPHEREx will take a broader approach. It plans to make over 9 million observations of the galaxy, allowing for a complete mapping of these molecular clouds.
By examining how ice accumulates in various parts of these clouds, researchers can get an idea of how these frozen compounds affect the formation and development of planets. This comprehensive survey will provide invaluable insights into the building blocks of life, as many of these compounds are believed to play a crucial role in shaping planetary systems.
Uncovering Hidden Water Reserves
Historical research, including studies from the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS), has revealed that there is actually less gaseous water in molecular clouds than scientists originally thought. Many researchers believe that this water is instead frozen within ice on tiny dust particles floating in space. According to Gary Melnick, a senior astronomer, this suggests that deeper layers of molecular clouds could potentially hold significant reserves of water ice, shielded from harmful cosmic radiation that could otherwise break it down. By mapping these areas, SPHEREx aims to uncover where these water ice resources are located.
Collaboration with Other Telescopes
SPHEREx is built for rapid and wide-ranging observations, serving as a great addition to other more detailed telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope. If SPHEREx identifies interesting regions during its survey, these specific areas can then be studied in greater depth with telescopes that have higher precision for detailed analysis.
Gary Melnick notes that the James Webb Telescope’s advanced capabilities allow it to focus on precise targets. This means that SPHEREx can help direct attention to regions of interest, enhancing our understanding of these areas, while Webb can investigate them in detail.
Mission Management and Data Processing
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is in charge of directing the SPHEREx mission, with contributions from various organizations. The telescope and spacecraft have been constructed by BAE Systems. The scientific work will involve researchers from ten institutions across the United States, as well as collaborations from two South Korean institutions and one from Taiwan.
Once collected, the data from SPHEREx will be processed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), which is part of Caltech. After this processing, the collected data will be made publicly available through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive. This open access is vital for supporting ongoing research about the icy compounds that are critical in the formation of stars and planets.
Conclusion
NASA’s SPHEREx mission is a significant step in understanding the chemistry of the Milky Way galaxy. By searching for water ice and other essential compounds within molecular clouds, scientists hope to uncover vital information about the building blocks necessary for life. This mission not only aims to map the galaxy on an unprecedented scale but also collaborates with powerful telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope to deepen our understanding of space. As SPHEREx embarks on this incredible journey, it promises to yield valuable insights that could ultimately explain how planets form and evolve, shedding light on our own origins in the universe.
