SPHEREx is NASA's
latest explorer mission in astrophysics, and I'm very excited about it.
It's works is going to answer some fundamental questions.
SPHEREx going to tell us about the origin of the universe, the birth and formation
history of galaxies, and the abundance of essential molecules
such as water in the early stages of star and planet formation.
In addition to these three fundamental questions,
SPHEREx is going to measure the spectrum over the entire sky,
which is going to be a bonanza for astronomers, across the world.
It's the first data set of its kind, and it's going to be full of
interesting objects for astronomers to study for decades.
The great thing about SPHEREx is not only will
we view the entire sky four times, but we will see it in nearly
100 near-infrared colors, and that's really never been done before.
So I think that's even more exciting that we will have so much great data
in so many different colors, is something to really look forward to.
SPHEREx looks a little bit like a box
with a big shiny umbrella upside down on it.
Some people think that
our photon shield, which protects the instrument
from earth and sunshine, looks a little bit like a flower
because it has several layers to it, like a rose.
We know
there are about 100 billion galaxies in the universe, maybe more, but
we still don't have a good understanding how these galaxies came to be.
If they all form at the same time, did they change in size
and luminosity or brightness over time?
So the intent with SPHEREx is for us to figure out
the formation history of galaxies.
Where do they exactly form and how do they grow over cosmic time?
SPHEREx will allow us to make a three dimensional map of the universe to map out
where the galaxies are located on the sky, take a full census of galaxy
counts and the galaxy distribution and galaxy types.
And that information is crucial for us, because that will allow us to separate
various theories we have right now on the formation and growth of galaxies.