When you look at the night sky what do you see? You may see the Moon, stars, and a few nearby planets. Did you know there are countless objects in space that we cannot see with just our eyes?
Scientists build tools to help us see things that are far away. The Spitzer Space Telescope is one of these tools. This telescope can see stars and planets that are very far away. This helps us learn about other objects in the universe. We can learn about how stars are made. We can see new planets as they develop. The Spitzer Space Telescope sends data from outer space back to scientists on Earth. Spitzer is operated by a team of scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The Spitzer Space Telescope detects infrared light. This is a type of light people cannot see with just their eyes. Using infrared light, Spitzer was able to map out the distribution of stars throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. We now have a 360-degree map of the stars in our galaxy. To make this map, the Spitzer took more than 2 million photos over 10 years!
What Do You Think? Why do you think it’s important to have tools such as the Spitzer Space Telescope?
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