Astronomy - USA (2020-06)

WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 13

On January 30, NASA decom-

missioned the Spitzer Space

Telescope, ending its more-

than-16-year run. Launched

August 25, 2003, the 33-inch

(0.85 meters) infrared telescope

mission initially used liquid

helium to cool its instruments

to –449 degrees Fahrenheit

(–267 degrees Celsius). In 2009,

coolant ran out and the tele-

scope commenced its warm

mission. Spitzer could no longer

observe longer wavelengths,

but continued observing at two

discrete short wavelengths: 3.

and 4.5 micrometers.

The telescope’s last day of

data collection was January 28;

on January 30, engineers sent

a command that triggered the

telescope into “safe mode” and

shut down its systems.

Positioned in an Earth-trailing

orbit to shield it from heat and

eliminate interference from the

atmosphere, Spitzer broadened

our view of the universe. The

telescope made its own land-

mark discoveries, as well as

complemented data from other

facilities including the Hubble

Space Telescope and the

Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Although observing the

infrared sky without Spitzer

will look different in the future,

astronomers still have some

tools at their disposal. The

Hubble Space Telescope has

limited infrared-observing

capabilities, while NASA’s

NEOWISE mission searches

for near-Earth asteroids at

infrared wavelengths. The

Stratospheric Observatory

For Infrared Astronomy, a

telescope mounted inside a

modified Boeing 747SP air-

craft, covers the entire range

of Spitzer’s instruments and

more. The James Webb Space

Telescope and the Wide Field

Infrared Survey Telescope,

both planned for launch in the

2020s, will also focus on the

infrared universe.

Spitzer far outlived its

primary mission timeline,

revealing a cosmos previously

invisible to humans. Its endur-

ing legacy will pave the way for

new discoveries and new tele-

scopes for years to come. See

page 18 to learn more about

Spitzer’s accomplishments and

see some of its groundbreak-

ing images. — E.K .C., H.R.M., A.K.

NASA retires the

Spitzer Space Telescope

HIDDEN UNIVERSE.

The Spitzer Space

Telescope floats

against a back-

ground showing the

invisible infrared

universe it revealed

to astronomers, in

this artist’s concept.

NASA/JPL-CALTECH

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