Tag Archives: infrared

SPHEREx: Mapping the Entire Sky in Infrared for Unprecedented Cosmic Insights

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NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectrophotometer for the Exploration of the History of the Universe, Era of Reionization, and Ice) space telescope has successfully created the first comprehensive 102-color infrared map of the entire sky, utilizing observations collected from May to December 2025. While these 102 infrared wavelengths are invisible to the human eye, their widespread presence in the universe enables scientists to tackle significant questions, such as understanding monumental events on Earth. The milliseconds following the Big Bang profoundly influenced the 3D distribution of billions of galaxies. Furthermore, this invaluable data will aid in studying the evolution of galaxies over the universe’s 13.8 billion-year history and analyzing the distribution of essential life ingredients within our Milky Way galaxy.

This infrared image from SPHEREx features color emissions from stars (blue, green, and white), hot hydrogen gas (blue), and cosmic dust (red). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The Earth completes approximately 14.5 rotations in a single day. Spherex travels from north to south, crossing over both poles.

Each day, SPHEREx captures around 3,600 images along a defined circular path in the sky. As time progresses and the planets orbit the sun, SPHEREx’s observational field shifts accordingly.

After six months, the observatory managed to explore the cosmos, capturing a full 360 degrees of the sky.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California oversees this mission, which commenced sky mapping in May and achieved its inaugural all-sky mosaic in December.

Over its two-year primary mission, SPHEREx plans to conduct three additional all-sky scans, merging these maps to enhance measurement sensitivity.

Dr. Sean Domagal Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, remarked, “It’s astounding that SPHEREx has gathered such a wealth of data in just six months. This information, combined with data from other missions, provides deeper insights into the universe.”

“We essentially have 102 new maps of the entire sky, each featuring distinct wavelengths and delivering unique information about celestial objects.”

“Astronomers will find valuable insights here, as NASA’s mission will facilitate answers to fundamental questions regarding the universe’s beginnings and its evolution, ultimately shedding light on our position within it.”

“SPHEREx is a medium-sized astrophysics mission delivering groundbreaking science,” stated Dave Gallagher, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“This remarkable project exemplifies how bold ideas can transform into reality, unlocking immense potential for groundbreaking discoveries.”

Every one of the 102 colors detected by SPHEREx corresponds to a wavelength of infrared light, each of which conveys unique information about galaxies, stars, planet-forming regions, and other cosmic phenomena.

For instance, dense dust clouds in our galaxy, where stars and planets are born, shine brightly at specific wavelengths but remain completely invisible at others.

This separation of light into its component wavelengths is known as spectroscopy.

While prior missions, including NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Surveyor, have mapped the entire sky, none have achieved the same diversity of colors as SPHEREx.

In contrast, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope can perform spectroscopy at significantly longer wavelengths than SPHEREx, but its field of view is thousands of times smaller.

The diversity of colors combined with a wide observational field is what renders SPHEREx exceptionally powerful.

“The true superpower of SPHEREx lies in its ability to capture the entire sky in 102 colors approximately every six months,” declared SPHEREx Project Manager Beth Fabinski, Ph.D., of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“It’s incredible how much information we can collect in a short timeframe.”

“This makes us akin to telescopic mantis shrimps, equipped with an extraordinary polychromatic visual detection system capable of observing a vast area around us.”

Source: www.sci.news

Enhanced Contact Lenses Enable Vision in Infrared Spectrum, Even in Darkness

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New contact lenses can provide infrared vision

Olga Yasternska/Alamy

Contact lenses enable users to perceive beyond the visible light spectrum, detecting infrared flickers even in darkness or with closed eyes.

The lenses incorporate engineered nanoparticles that absorb and convert infrared radiation, particularly within the near-infrared range of 800-1600 nanometers. This technology functions similarly to night vision equipment, allowing visibility in low-light conditions, but the contact lenses are significantly lighter and do not need any external power source.

“Contact lenses grant military personnel a modest, hands-free nighttime capability, overcoming the challenges posed by cumbersome night vision [goggles or scopes]” stated Peter Rentzepis from Texas A&M University, who is involved in related research employing the same nanoparticles (sodium fluoride, ytterbium, erbium) for eyeglass lenses.

The innovative wearables developed by Yuqian Ma from the China University of Science and Technology and his team have not yet achieved detailed night vision. This limitation occurs because they can solely detect “high-intensity narrowband LED” light sources, as noted by Rentzepis, without capturing the ambient infrared light.

“While it’s an ambitious study, contact lenses alone cannot be employed for reading in infrared or navigating dark paths,” explained Mikhail Kats, who is not associated with the research, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In human-mouse studies, the contact lenses transformed an otherwise invisible flash of infrared light into what Kats describes as “a significant, colorful chunk of visible light.” These representations serve a purpose; for instance, MA and his team encoded and transmitted alphabetic characters by altering the frequency, quantity, and color of various light flashes.

This research builds upon previous studies where scientists directly injected nanoparticles into the eyes of mice to facilitate infrared vision. Wearable contact lenses present a “safer and more practical approach to human applications,” observes Rentzepis. However, he cautions that they still pose potential health and safety concerns, such as risks of thermal exposure from the photoconversion process or the leakage of nanoparticles into ocular tissues.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Infrared Contact Lenses Enable Night Vision or Eyelid Closure

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Researchers have created prototype infrared contact lenses that enable users to see in the dark or even with their eyes closed.

The innovative prototype, developed by the University of Science and Technology in China, incorporates nanoparticles that transform infrared light into visible light.

Contact lenses infused with nanoparticles were provided to volunteers as part of the study recently published in the journal Cell. Participants successfully detected a flashing signal from infrared rays, which are normally invisible to the naked eye.

The transparent lenses permitted participants to perceive both visible and infrared light simultaneously.

“We discovered that when subjects close their eyes, near-infrared light penetrates the eyelids more efficiently than visible light, allowing us to capture this flickering information more effectively,” stated Tian Xue, the lead researcher from the University of Science and Technology in China.

These nanoparticles absorb near-infrared (NIR) light with wavelengths ranging from 800 to 1600 nanometers, which is beyond human visual perception. They then re-emit this light within the visible range of 400 to 700 nanometers.

Currently, near-infrared light is utilized in active night vision goggles, which illuminate the environment with infrared rays and convert that light into a visible format for users.

Active Night Vision Goggles illuminate the landscape with infrared rays and convert this into visible wavelengths – Credit: Getty Images/StockByte

However, if you’re hoping to see the world as “faithfully” portrayed in Predators, you may be disappointed—longer wavelengths are required for that effect.

At present, the contact lenses are sensitive enough to detect light emitted from infrared LEDs.

While the lenses initially struggled to capture fine details, the research team was able to enhance this capability by using an additional set of glasses.

Nanoparticles can be modified to emit light in various colors, improving the clarity and interpretation of infrared images. There may even be potential to alter visible light performance.

“By converting red visible light to green visible light, this technology could become invisible to those who are colorblind,” explains Xue.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Webb Captures Dynamic Infrared Auroras on Jupiter

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Jovian auroras shine hundreds of times brighter than those visible from Earth, according to a team of astronomers led by Dr. Jonathan Nichols at the University of Leicester.

These observations of Jupiter’s aurora were captured on December 25, 2023 by Webb’s near-infrared camera (NIRCAM). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STSCI / RICARDO HUESO, UPV / IMKE DE PATER, UC BERKELEY / THIERRY FOUCHET, OBSERVATORY OF PARIS / LE FLETCHER, JOSEPH DEPASQUALE, STSCI/J. NICHOLS, UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER/M. ZAMANI, ESA & WEBB.

When high-energy particles enter the planet’s atmosphere near its magnetic poles, they collide with gas atoms, creating the auroras.

Jupiter’s auroras are not only massive in scale but also exhibit energy levels hundreds of times greater than those seen on Earth.

These auroras are primarily triggered by solar storms, where charged particles entering the atmosphere excite gas particles, resulting in vibrant red, green, and purple hues.

Additionally, Jupiter has a unique source of auroral activity—its strong magnetic field captures charged particles from its surroundings.

This includes not only those from the solar wind but also particles ejected from the volcanic moon Io.

The eruptions from Io’s volcanoes release particles that escape both the moon’s and Jupiter’s gravitational pull.

Solar storms also discharge vast amounts of charged particles towards Jupiter.

Jupiter’s immense magnetic fields accelerate these charged particles to extraordinary speeds.

When these high-velocity particles collide with the planet’s atmosphere, they excite the gas and produce radiant displays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if0vpfergju

Thanks to the advanced capabilities of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, new insights into Jovian auroras can be gained.

The telescope’s sensitivity enables astronomers to use faster shutter speeds to capture the rapidly evolving features of the auroras.

This latest data was collected using Webb’s near-infrared camera (NIRCAM) on Christmas Day 2023.

“What a Christmas gift; it truly astonished me!” exclaimed Dr. Nichols.

“We aimed to observe how quickly the aurora transformed, hoping to see beautiful fluctuations within about an hour.”

“Instead, we witnessed the entire aurora region illuminating the sky in a spectacular display.

Astronomers noted fluctuations in the effects caused by trihydrogen ions, known as H.3+, which varied more than previously assumed.

These observations help scientists unravel how Jupiter’s upper atmosphere undergoes heating and cooling.

Additionally, several unknown phenomena were identified in the data.

“What made these observations particularly intriguing was that the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was capturing images simultaneously in ultraviolet light,” Dr. Nichols commented.

“Strangely, the brightest light observed by Webb seemed to have no corresponding feature in Hubble’s images. This left me puzzled.”

“To produce the brightness observed in both Webb and Hubble, we would require an improbable mix of a substantial quantity of very low-energy particles impacting the atmosphere.

study Published in the journal Nature Communications.

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JD Nichols et al. 2025. The dynamic infrared aurora of Jupiter. Nature Communications 16, 3907; doi:10.1038/s41467-025-58984-z

Source: www.sci.news

Astronomers Analyze Gas Flow in Uncommonly Bright Infrared Galaxy

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Ultraluminous infrared galaxies are the rarest and most extreme star-forming systems and are found only in the distant universe.

Radiative distribution of stars, cold gas, and ionized gas in the unusual HyLIRG Einstein ring PJ0116-24. Image courtesy of Liu others., doi:10.1038/s41550-024-02296-7.

“Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (HyLIRGs) are incredibly luminous galaxies illuminated by extremely rapid star formation within their interiors,” said Dr Daizhong Liu from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and his colleagues.

“Previous studies had suggested that such extreme galaxies must have arisen through galactic mergers.”

“The collisions of these galaxies are thought to create regions of dense gas that trigger rapid star formation.”

“However, isolated galaxies could also become HyLIRGs through internal processes alone if star-forming gas flows rapidly toward the galaxy's center.”

In the new study, the astronomers focused on a gravitationally lensed HyLIRG galaxy known as PJ0116-24.

“PJ0116-24 is so distant that it took its light about 10 billion years to reach Earth,” the researchers said.

“By chance, the foreground galaxy acts as a gravitational lens, bending and magnifying the light from the background galaxy, PJ0116-24, and directing it towards the Einstein ring.”

“This precise configuration of space allows us to magnify very distant objects and see them with a level of detail that is very difficult to achieve any other way.

The researchers used ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the motion of gas within PJ0116-24.

“ALMA tracks the cold gas which appears blue here, while the VLT with its new High Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (ERIS) tracks the warm gas which appears red,” the researchers say.

“Thanks to these detailed observations, we now know that the gas in this extreme galaxy rotates in an organized manner, rather than the chaotic state expected after a galaxy collision. A stunning result!”

“This convincingly shows that a merger is not necessarily required for a galaxy to become a HyLIRG.”

Team paper Published in the journal Natural Astronomy.

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D. Liu othersA detailed study of a rare, ultra-luminous rotating disk in a 10 billion year old Einstein ring. Nat AstronPublished online July 15, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02296-7

Source: www.sci.news

NASA’s Infrared Telescope: A Remarkable Evolution

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For the past 40 years, scientists have been using infrared space telescopes to study the universe, including NASA missions such as the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) launched in 1983, the Spitzer Space Telescope launched in 2003, and the James Webb Space Telescope launched in 2021. Although the Webb Telescope has opened a new window to the universe, it builds on missions from 40 years ago, including Spitzer and the Infrared Astronomy Satellite. The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful space observatory in history, celebrating its second anniversary since its launch. Its clarity of images has inspired the world, and scientists are just beginning to study its scientific benefits.

The success of Webb builds on four decades of work with space telescopes that also detect infrared light. Telescopes such as the IRAS and the Spitzer Space Telescope provide crucial insights into star formation, cosmic gas and dust clouds, and the existence of exoplanets. These telescopes have contributed to groundbreaking discoveries about the universe and have paved the way for future infrared missions, such as NASA’s upcoming SPHEREx and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

The legacy of these infrared space telescopes is reflected in the images of star-forming regions, such as Rho Ophiuchus and Fomalhaut, which have revealed previously hidden features and provided insight into the formation of stars and planets. Infrared light has become an essential tool for understanding the universe on various scales, from the study of galaxy evolution to the detection of exoplanets and the investigation of dark energy.

The Webb Telescope is paving the way for complex and diverse scientific questions by building upon the knowledge gained from previous infrared telescopes such as IRAS and Spitzer. Its success is fueling the anticipation of future infrared missions that will continue to expand our understanding of the universe.

Source: scitechdaily.com