A NASA infrared space telescope, the third in NASA's Great Observatories program, that observed the universe in infrared light from 2003 to 2020 from an Earth-trailing solar orbit. It revealed cool and dust-obscured objects invisible to optical instruments, including the 2016 discovery of five of the seven known TRAPPIST-1 planets.
Facts
Observatory TypeSpace telescope (infrared) 1 LocationEarth-trailing heliocentric orbit 1 MeasuresMeasured infrared radiation from 3.6 to 160 micrometers, detecting heat signatures invisible to visible-light telescopes. 1 Operating PrincipleOperated with cryogenic cooling down to 5.5 kelvin, keeping its own detectors from swamping the faint infrared signals they were built to detect. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationSpitzer Space Telescope, lead paragraph sectionQuote, Spitzer Space Telescope, lead paragraph section
formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationSpitzer Space Telescope, infoboxQuote, Spitzer Space Telescope, infobox
Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationSpitzer Space Telescope, History sectionQuote, Spitzer Space Telescope, History section
The US$776 million Spitzer was launched on 25 August 2003
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationSpitzer Space Telescope, specificationsQuote, Spitzer Space Telescope, specifications
infrared, 3.6–160 μm
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationSpitzer Space Telescope, telescope sectionQuote, Spitzer Space Telescope, telescope section
cooled to 5.5 K (−268 °C; −450 °F)
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.