On Thursday, scientists and engineers in Southern California got an exclusive glimpse at a recent snapshot of Fornax, a constellation of stars in the Southern Hemisphere.
At the end of last month, the spacecraft’s survey concluded, and it closed its telescopic eyes for the final time.
“This was the little space telescope that could,” said Amy Mainzer, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles, and principal investigator for NEOWISE.
“We were really lucky to get to do this work.”When the mission was launched in 2009, it was known simply as WISE.
It spent the next year peering at faraway objects in the universe radiating infrared light, including supermassive black holes, brown dwarfs, dying stars and one of the most luminous galaxies in the cosmos.
Persons:
”, Amy Mainzer, “
Organizations:
Southern Hemisphere, Survey, University of California
Locations:
Southern California, Los Angeles