What is the Spitzer Space Telescope?
The Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared space telescope, the last out of four space telescopes to be launched for NASA’s Great Observatories program. The previous three telescopes launched for this program were the Hubble Space Telescope (in 1990), the Chandra X-ray Observatory (in 1991), the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (in 1999). Each specializes on a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Spitzer Space Telescope is named for Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr., who originated the idea of space telescopes in the mid-1940s. The naming was unique for being derived from a contest open to the general public rather than a board of distinguished astronomers. Because Lyman Spitzer died in 1997, he was never able to see the telescope bearing his name launch into space. Infrared light is the light produced by heat. It is slightly less energetic than the visual portion of the spectrum, with a slightly longer wavelength, in the ballpark of micrometers. Because every star emits infrared radiation i
One of NASA’s current astronomy projects is the Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly called SIRTF). The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched into space in August 2003. to study our solar system, our galaxy, and the universe. Spitzer will be the fourth and final observatory in NASA’s family of Great Observatories. It will join the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO), and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) in space.
