Transcript The Spitzer Space Telescope

Chelsea Braun
Image: (NASA, JPL-Caltech, Hurt, R, 2003)
Overview
 The Mission
 The Launch
 Telescope
 Instruments
 Projects and Research
 Interesting Images
 Interesting Facts
Image: (NASA, JPL-Caltech, Hurt, R, 2003)
The Mission
 It is the fourth and final telescope of NASA’s Great
Observatories program
 The Hubble Telescope (HST)
 The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO)
 Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO)
 Spitzer Space Telescope
 a family of four space-based observatories, each
observing the Universe in a different kind of light
(Mission Overview, 2003)
The Spectrum
Infrared
Soft x-rays
Primarily
gamma rays
extended to
hard x-rays
Visible light
and nearultraviolet
Image: (Great Observatories, 2003)
Launch
Launch Date
25 Aug, 2003
Launch Vehicle
Delta 7920H ELV
Launch Site
Cape Canaveral,
Florida
Mission Length
2.5 yrs – 5+ yrs
Launch mass
950 kg
Orbit
Heliocentric, earthtrailing
(Fast Facts, 2012) image: (Launch, 2003)
Why in Space?
 Outside the Earth’s Atmosphere
 Atmosphere is opaque at infrared wavelengths


=> long exposure time
=> greatly reduces ability to detect faint objects
 Earth trailing, heliocentric orbits
 Keeps the observatory far away from the Earth’s heat
 Lets nature cool the observatory, saving liquid helium
 Wider view of the sky

View is only limited by the Sun, instead of the Sun and Earth
 Can observe in the “day” :D
(Spitzer Science Center, 2012)
Telescope
 Ritchey-Chrétien design
 Weighs less than 50kg
 Made almost purely out of
beryllium (except for the
mirror)
 Low heat capacity at low
temperature
 Telescope is attached to the
cryostat to keep it very cold
(Spitzer Space Center, 2012) Image: (Telescope, 2012; Cryostat, 2012; MIP, 2012)
Telescope Specs
Telescope style
Ritchey-Chretien
Mirror diameter/ Aperture
85 cm
Wavelength
3-180 micrometers (Infrared)
Focal Length
10.2 m
Focal Ratio
f/12
Instruments
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
Multiband Imaging
Photometer (MIPS)
(Spitzer Space Center, 2012) Image: (Spitzer, 2003)
Instruments
Image: (Instruments, 2012)
 Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
 Imaging camera designed to detect light at near- & mid-infrared
wavelengths
 4 channel camera -> it has 4 detectors, each measuring light
simultaneously at the wavelengths




3.6 microns
4.5 microns
5.8 microns
8.0 microns
 FOV : 5.2’x5.2’
 Angular resolution : ~ 2’’
(IRAC Instruments and Instrument Support team, 2012)
ESO’s VISTA camera in the infrared
(Chile)
(ESO, VISTA, Emerson, J. 2012)
ESO’s WFI 2.2m telescope in
visible light (Chile)
DSS coloured image (32.1’x30.36’)
(ESO, 2009) (Digital Sky Survey)
 Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
 Provides both high and low spectroscopy at mid-infrared range
 4-40 microns
 The spectrograph picks up light from distant objects and breaks it up into
a spectrum

Useful for determining the elements and molecules that make up an object
 Has four different modules
 Long-wavelength, high-resolution (18.7-37.2 microns)
 FOV: 11.1”x22.3”
 Resolution: ~ 600
 Short-wavelength, low-resolution (5.12-14.29 microns)
 FOV: 3.6”-3.7”x57”
 Resolution: 60-127
 Long-wavelength, low-resolution (13.90-39.90 microns)
 FOV: 13.9”x39.90”
 Resolution: 57-126
 Short-wavelength, high-resolution (9.89-19.51microns)
 FOV: 4.7”x11.3”
 Resolution: ~600
(IRS Instrument Handbook, 2012)
 Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
 Imaging Camera in the far infrared wavelengths
 Capable of simple low resolution spectroscopy

55-95 microns
Broad
Spectral
Bands
FOV
Resolution
24 microns
5’x5’
6”
70 microns
2.5’x5’
18”
160 microns
0.5’x5’
40”
(Rieke G H, Young E T, Engelbracht C W, et al., 2004)
(MIPS Instruments and MIPS Instrument Support Team, 2011)
(CDS, Coloured
Digital Sky
Survey)
Project Proposal
 In order to apply for Spitzer time, proposers are required to
submit three items in their proposal BEFORE THE DEADLINE:
 Cover sheet information
 Scientific and technical justification (template provided)
 Astronomical Observation Requests (AORs template)
 How a proposal gets chosen:
 Peer reviewed by topical science panels and a Time Allocation
Committee (TAC) that uses a set evaluation criteria (Rated and
Ranked)
 The Spitzer Space Center director makes the final decision
(IPAC, Caltech, 2000)
Spitzer’s Specialties
 Its unprecedented infrared sensitivity allowed astronomers to
capture the “old, cold, and dirty”
 The oldest, coldest, and most dust obscure objects and processes
in the universe
 Low-temperature objects
 Aids in the search for planetary systems in the making
 Cornerstone of NASA’s Origins Program
(Spitzer Space Center,
2012)
Survey
 GLIMPSE (the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey
Extraordinaire)
(NASA, IRAC, SSC. 2010)
 Survey spanning 300° of the inner Milky Way galaxy
 444000 images at 4 separate wavelengths using the IRAC
 MIPSGAL (Micron Survey of the Intergalactic Disk with MIPS)
 Similar survey covering 278° of the galactic disk at longer
wavelengths (Bressert, E, IPAC, SSC, 2004)
Spitzer Highlights
 Exoplanet detection, the Hot Jupiters
 2007, the SST captured the 1st light from exoplanets

Even enough light to identify the molecules in their atmosphere
 Discovered the “missing universe”
 The missing population of hungry black holes known as quasars
 Largest Milky Way image (GLIMPSE and MIPSGAL)
 Stitched together with 800,000 images in Infrared
(Spitzer Space Center, 2012)
Interesting Images
(NASA, JPL-Caltech, 2011)
Fun Facts
 The Spitzer ran out of liquid helium on May 15, 2009
 Only IRAC instrument is functional
 Spitzer Warm Mission
 The only one of the Great Observatories not launched
by the Space Shuttle
 The naming of the telescope was done by a contest given
out to the general public
 Named after Lyman Spitzer, theoretical physicist and
astronomer
 Developed the idea of telescopes in spaaaaace
(Spitzer Space Center, 2012)
Resources
The CDS portal. 2012. http://cdsportal.u-strasbg.fr/
IRS instrument handbook. 2012. http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/SPITZER/docs/irs/
Bressert, E, IPAC, SSC. MIPSGAL. http://mipsgal.ipac.caltech.edu/
ESO, VISTA, Emerson, J. 2012. VISTA`s look at the helix nebula.
http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1205a/
IPAC C. 2000. Calls for proposals.
http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/SPITZER/docs/spitzermission/observingprograms/proposalcycl
es/
IRAC Instrument and Instrument Support Teams. 2011. IRAC instrument handbook.
http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/
Marengo M. 2008. The spitzer space telescope and IRAC.
https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~mmarengo/me/irac.html
Marengo M. 2008. The spitzer space telescope and IRAC.
https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~mmarengo/me/irac.html
MIPS Instrument and MIPS Instrument Support Teams. 2011. MIPS instrument handbook.
http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/SPITZER/docs/mips/mipsinstrumenthandbook/
NASA, ESA, CXC, JPL, Caltech and STScI. 2009. Spiral galaxy M101.
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1984-ssc2009-03a-NASA-s-Great-ObservatoriesCelebrate-the-International-Year-of-Astronomy
NASA I, SSC. 2003. GLIMPSE. http://www.astro.wisc.edu/sirtf/
NASA J. 2011. Stars gather in downtown milky-way. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3560-sig11-003-Stars-Gather-inDowntown-Milky-Way
NASA J, Harvard-Smithsonian CFA. 2012. Goings on around star forming town. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/4879ssc2012-02b-Goings-On-Around-Star-forming-Towns
NASA, JPL-Caltech, Hora, J (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA). 2006. The infrared helix. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1531ssc2006-01a-The-Infrared-Helix
NASA, JPL-Caltech, Hurt R (SSC). 2003. Dust cover. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3063-dust_cover-Artist-s-Conceptionof-Spitzer-Ejecting-its-Dust-Cover
NASA, JPL-Caltech, Hurt R (SSC). 2003. SIRTF departure. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3078-SIRTF_departure-SpitzerDeparting-the-Earth-Soon-After-Launch
NASA, JPL-Caltech, Hurt, R (SSC). 2003. Spitzer space telescope and earth. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3063dust_cover-Artist-s-Conception-of-Spitzer-Ejecting-its-Dust-Cover
NASA, JPL-Caltech, Hurt, R (SSC). 2003. Spitzer space telescope and earth. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3078SIRTF_departure-Spitzer-Departing-the-Earth-Soon-After-Launch
NASA, JPL-Caltech, Teixeira, P S. 2005. NGC2264. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2412-sig05-028-Stellar-SnowflakeCluster
NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Gordon (University of Arizona) & S. Willner (CfA), N.A. Sharp (NOAO/AURA/NSF). 2009. Spiral galaxy M81.
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/image_archive/2005/40/lores.jpg
Rieke G H, Young E T, Engelbracht C W, et al. 2004. THE MULTIBAND IMAGING PHOTOMETER FOR SPITZER (MIPS). ASTRON
ASTROPHYS SUP. 154 : 25-9
Rieke G H, Young E T, Engelbracht C W, et al. 2004. The multiband imaging photometer for spitzer (MIPS). ASTRON ASTROPHYS
SUP. 154 : 24-9
Ryba J. 2008. NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/science_faq.html
Spitzer Science Center. 2012. Mission overview. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/mission/32-Mission-Overview
Spitzer Science Center. 2012. Spitzer space telescope. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/
X-ray: NASA/UMass/Q.D.Wang et al., Optical: NASA/STScI/AURA/Hubble Heritage, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ.
AZ/R.Kennicutt/SINGS Team. 2009. Sombrero galaxy: A great observatories view.
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/sombrero/