NASA Celebrates the Legacy of the Spitzer Space Telescope

An undated handout photo made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of an image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope showing the spiral arms of galaxy Messier 81 (issued 23 January 2020).

Located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major, this galaxy is located about 12 million light-years from Earth.

NASA is celebrating the legacy of one of its Great Observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope, which has studied the universe in infrared light for more than 16 years.

NASA Celebrates the Legacy of the Spitzer Space Telescope
An undated handout photo made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows an artist’s rendering of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in space with the background shown in infrared light (issued 23 January 2020).EPA-EFE/NASA HANDOUT

The Spitzer mission will come to a close on 30 January 2020.

Launched in 2003, Spitzer revealed previously hidden features of known cosmic objects and led to discoveries and insights spanning from our own solar system to nearly the edge of the universe.

 

Photos: EPA-EFE/NASA/JPL-CALTECH HANDOUT

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