NASA'S Spitzer Sees The Cosmos Through 'Warm' Infrared Eyes

August 05, 2009

J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241


Whitney Clavin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-4673


RELEASE: 09-181

NASA'S SPITZER SEES THE COSMOS THROUGH 'WARM' INFRARED EYES

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is starting a second
career and taking its first shots of the cosmos since warming up.
The infrared telescope ran out of coolant May 15, 2009, more than
five-and-one-half-years after launch. It has since warmed to a
still-frosty 30 degrees Kelvin (about minus 406 degrees Fahrenheit).

New images taken with two of Spitzer's infrared detector channels --
two that work at the new warmer temperature -- demonstrate the
observatory remains a powerful tool for probing the dusty universe.
The images show a bustling star-forming region, the remains of a star
similar to the sun, and a swirling galaxy lined with stars.

"The performance of the two short wavelength channels of Spitzer's
Infrared Array Camera is essentially unchanged from what it was
before the observatory's liquid helium was exhausted," said Doug
Hudgins, the Spitzer program scientist at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. "To put that in perspective, that means Spitzer's
sensitivity at those wavelengths is still roughly the same as a
30-meter ground-based telescope. This breathtaking image demonstrates
Spitzer will continue to deliver world-class imagery and science
during its warm mission."

The first of three images shows a cloud bursting with stars in the
Cygnus region of our Milky Way galaxy. Spitzer's infrared eyes peer
through and see dust, revealing young stars tucked in dusty nests. A
second image shows a nearby dying star -- a planetary nebula called
NGC 4361 - which has outer layers that expand outward in the rare
form of four jets. The last picture is of a classic spiral galaxy
called NGC 4145, located approximately 68 million light-years from
Earth.

"With Spitzer's remaining shorter-wavelength bands, we can continue
to
see through the dust in galaxies and get a better look at the overall
populations of stars," said Robert Hurt, imaging specialist for
Spitzer at NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena. "All stars are equal in the infrared."

Since its launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 25, 2003, Spitzer
has made many discoveries. They include planet-forming disks around
stars, the composition of the material making up comets, hidden black
holes, galaxies billions of light-years away and more.

Perhaps the most revolutionary and surprising Spitzer finds involve
planets around other stars, called exoplanets. In 2005, Spitzer
detected the first photons of light from an exoplanet. In a clever
technique, now referred to as the secondary-eclipse method, Spitzer
was able to collect the light of a hot, gaseous exoplanet and learn
about its temperature. Later detailed studies revealed more about the
composition and structure of the atmospheres of these exotic worlds.

Warm Spitzer will address many of the same science questions as
before. It also will tackle new projects, such as refining estimates
of Hubble's constant, or the rate at which our universe is stretching
apart; searching for galaxies at the edge of the universe;
characterizing more than 700 near-Earth objects, or asteroids and
comets with orbits that pass close to our planet; and studying the
atmospheres of giant gas planets expected to be discovered soon by
NASA's Kepler mission.

As during the cold Spitzer mission, these and the other programs are
selected by a competition in which scientists from around the world
are invited to participate. Spitzer officially began its warm science
mission on July 27, 2009. The new pictures were taken while the
telescope was being re-commissioned on July 18 (NGC 4145, NGC 4361)
and July 21 (Cygnus).

JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations are conducted
at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of
Technology.

For more information about Spitzer, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

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