The Spitzer Space Telescope (2003 - 2020)

avatar

NASA has created a lot of telescope for space and among them is the Spitzer Space Telescope. Unlike our planet where we can learn a lot of things about, there are a few things that can be learnt about space and the solar system. In other for humans to understand how outer space looked like, they started developing devices which were called Telescopes. This devices helped them to access earth orbit, beyond the moons and other planetary bodies and the universe. Even though astronomers were able to design telescopes and view outer space from earth directly, there were still limitation to its capability and soon Space telescopes came into being. A few space telescopes includes the Proton-1, Proton-2, Proton-4, Hubble Space telescope, Hipparcos, MOST, Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer, Kepler, Spitzer Space Telescope and many more. A few have been terminated while so many are about to be completed like the James Webb Telescope.

spitzer.jpg
Image Credit

The Spitzer Space Telescope which was launched in 2003 was an infrared telescope used to detect heat but was terminated in January 3, 2020. It comprises of the cryogenic telescope assembly and the electronic Spitzer instrument. The telescope needs to be warm and cold at the same time as the cryogenic area of the telescope need to be a -459 degree Fahrenheit, which means it as to be cold which is made possible with the help of Helium. While the electronic part of the needed to be a room temperature. Spitzer Space Telescope uses the Infrared Array Camera which operates at different wavelengths of 3.6 micrometer, 4.5 micrometer, 5.8 micrometer and 8 micrometer, it uses an Infrared Spectrograph which viewed at a wavelength of 5.3-14 micrometers, 10-19 micrometers, 14-40 micrometer, and 19-37 micrometer.

The Spitzer Space Telescope was used to check space and different planet based on how they look and also showing their core. Spitzer was used to spot the youngest star, and the first stars in the universe, as well as other exoplanet. It was used to identify the shape of the core and other planets, it was also used to identify the Milky Way and give scientist more understanding about the Milky Way, and it also helped to obtain the temperature of so many planets. It was used to discover the most distant Galaxy (GN-Z11)

The Telescope was planned to stay in space for 2.5 years but able to stay for 5.5 years In the cold face before it stayed in the warm mission till it was retired by NASA. One of the disadvantage of the telescope is that the battery only lasted 2 hours daily as it grew older and was made to retire in January 2020.

A lot of telescope have been lunched into space and a lot have been terminated but the Spitzer Space Telescope truly worth its launching into space.



0
0
0.000
4 comments
avatar

Technology will always allow us to do great things and reach many places and this particular invention achieved its goal!

0
0
0.000
avatar

The world of technology is growing fast rapidly ad day goes by.

Just imagine where the technology state of the world is in the past 50 years compare to this time and looking it ahead in the next 50 years

0
0
0.000