Spitzer Space Telescope: 13 Years Illuminating the Dark

The Spitzer Space Telescope studies the Universe in infrared light, illuminating places that would be impossible to see in visible light. The mission, originally designed to last 2.5 to 5 years, has just celebrated its 13th anniversary in space! 

The Spitzer Space Telescope is in an Earth-trailing orbit. Image Source

Spitzer is part of NASA's Great Observatories program, a series of space telescopes that study the Universe in different wavelengths of light. The most well known of the great observatories is the Hubble Space Telescope, which observes in visible light. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory observed gamma rays, and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory continues to study x-rays. All of these telescopes help scientists have a more complete picture of the Universe, since objects emit many more wavelengths of light than we can see with our eyes. 

Our atmosphere blocks most of the infrared light that Spitzer observes, so this telescope had to be in space to carry out its mission. It is named after astronomer Lyman Spitzer Jr., the first scientist to propose the idea of placing a large telescope in space and the driving force behind the development of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Because the telescope observes in infrared light, it can see through regions of dust that block visible light, as in this image of the Rho Ophiuchi nebula below.

The Rho Ophiuchi nebula as observed by Spitzer in 2008. The most evolved stars are blue in this image. New stars are glowing red disks. Image Source

Here is the same region in visible light. As you can see, the dust obscures the baby stars. 

Different features of the nebula are visible in different wavelengths. Visible light shows the dust, rather than the star-forming disks. Image Source

Spitzer also detected buckyballs in space for the first time, both in a gas and solid form. 

Buckyballs are molecules of 60 carbon atoms, arranged like a soccer ball. Image Source

Buckyballs can be found in nature and synthesized on Earth. Their unusual structure makes them superconductors, and ideal candidates for electrical and chemical applications. Their discovery in space indicates that they may be an important form of carbon, the building block of life. 

Spitzer also teamed up with the Kepler Space Telescope to map the atmosphere of  exoplanets for the first time ever. It has been able to detect the temperatures, winds, and atmospheric compositions on "hot Jupiters", Jupiter-sized worlds orbiting very close to their stars. 

One of the most notable accomplishments of the great Spitzer Space Telescope was a giant map of our Milky Way Galaxy. 

The entire galactic plane of the Milky Way is imaged here in infrared light. To make viewing easier, the images are stacked, with the galactic center in the middle bar. Image Source

The star-studded panorama of our galaxy is constructed from more than 2 million infrared snapshots taken over 10 years. It is difficult to appreciate even at high resolution, so NASA made a webpage where you can zoom into different portions of the galaxy. I encourage you to check it out - it is beautiful! The video below pans through the image.

Spitzer has done great science over the past 13 years, and has taken gorgeous pictures of the cosmos along the way. 

The Triangulum Galaxy as seen by Spitzer in 2009. Stars appear as glistening blue gems (many of which are actually foreground stars in our own galaxy), while dust in the spiral disk of the galaxy glows pink and red. Image Source 

The Helix Nebula, a stellar remnant, in infrared. Infrared light from the outer gaseous layers is represented in blues and greens. The white dwarf is visible as a tiny white dot in the center of the picture. The red color in the middle of the eye denotes the final layers of gas blown out when the star died. Image Source

The North American Nebula. Image Source

The giant star Zeta Ophiuchi is having a "shocking" effect on the surrounding dust clouds in this infrared image. Stellar winds flowing out from this fast-moving star are making ripples in the dust as it approaches, creating a bow shock seen as glowing gossamer threads, which, for this star, are only seen in infrared light. Image Source

The star-forming Monkey Head Nebula. Image Source

The Spitzer Space Telescope has used up all its liquid helium coolant, so some of its instruments no longer work. However, mission engineers and scientists are very good at finding ways to keep space telescopes going when problems arise. Spitzer has just entered its "Beyond" phase, in which it will study exoplanets and the most distant galaxies. NASA plans to keep Spitzer working through the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, its much bigger successor. 

The Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum is your resource for the latest news from space! Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for daily updates! 

Have dinner with an astronaut! More information here