Spitzer Space Telescope

The last of NASA’s four great observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003

DID YOU KNOW?The Spitzer was formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SITF) Objects in space radiate heat in the form of infrared energy, but ground-based telescopes cannot detect it due to the Earth’s atmosphere. Because the Spitzer Space Telescope orbits around the Sun, it can record this energy in the form of images. The telescope uses three highly sensitive instruments – a camera, a spectrograph and a photometer – that operate on different wavelengths and detect pixels to form pictures. Infrared telescopes have to be kept very cold (-268ºC) in order to function properly. The Spitzer was launched with a liquid helium supply to keep its instruments cold for a minimum of 2.5 years. It is far enough away from the Earth so that it does not pick up infrared…

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How It Works Book of Space (Digital) - 1 Issue, How It Works Book Of Space 8th Edition

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