Lately, the james webb it is giving us so many beautiful images that we forget that there are many other space telescopes mapping the sky. One of them is WISE, an instrument that was launched in 2009 to study objects beyond our solar system. Now, thanks to the images captured by him, and within the framework of the project NEOWISEaimed at capturing near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets, NASA has built a nice 12 years old timelapse that portrays the sky as we had not seen it before.
In the same way that happens with the images of James Webb, it is important to note that its function is not to make beautiful wallpapers. NEOWISE sky images have a scientific value very important. However, we cannot deny the evidence that they are also precious.
Now, putting the evidence aside, what is the role of the NEOWISE project? And equally important, what can we see among the pictures taken by your space telescope?
From WISE to NEOWISE
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a space telescope that works in the infrared range. It was launched by NASA in 2009to later be placed in hibernation in 2011. However, it started up again in 2013, thus beginning a hard work that is still going on today. In fact, the scientists behind its construction did not expect that its useful life in the sky could be so long.
After that reactivation, the telescope was immersed in a new project, called NEOWISEaimed at analyzing the behavior of near earth objects (NEOs). Data from this project has been collected every six months and published annually. And it is precisely a compendium of these biannual data that NASA has now used to build that interesting timelapse of the sky.
Much more than a map of the sky
Actually, that sky map that they have built with the NEOWISE data has many functions. For example, the location of hundreds of millions of objects, as well as the amount of infrared light they emit. This allows you to know much better how they behave. And it’s especially useful with brown dwarfs.
These are substellar objects that do not have enough mass to support the nuclear fusion reactions of hydrogen that stars use as fuel. Thanks to NASA time lapse, 260 brown dwarfs have been identified. In addition, it has been possible to study in depth the Y dwarfs, which are cooler brown dwarfs that provide very useful information “on the efficiency of the generation of stars and their synchronization in the evolution of our galaxy”.
And if knowing much better how stars are formed was not enough, with this map of the sky it has also been possible analyze distant black holes, since with the images of the WISE telescope it is possible to identify the bursts of infrared light from the clouds of matter that are stirred around the black holes. This is a great advantage, because it allows them to be detected and studied at a great distance.
In short, this timelapse, beyond a pretty image, is a living map, which can give us very interesting facts about the universe. Something that NASA scientists would never have imagined. In fact, As one of them explained in a statement, peter eisenhardtthey would never have anticipated that they would be able to obtain so much data.
And this has only just begun, with two more sky maps expected in 2023. NASA scientists have a lot to learn from these images. But in the meantime, we can simply delight in seeing them. Nothing happens either.
