MSNBC - Infrared window opens on the universe
Newly named Spitzer Space Telescope makes visual splash
NASA / JPL-Caltech / CfA
This image from the Spitzer Space Telescope showcases a nearby galaxy much like our own Milky Way, called M81. The picture resolves features not seen before, astronomers said, and will allow them to estimate the rate of star formation.
NASA announced the formal name of its newest space telescope on Thursday and released the first science pictures. The images support a promise that the orbiting observatory, now called the Spitzer Space Telescope, will provide top-notch science and entertainment on a par with the Hubble Space Telescope.
'Every time we take a picture, we see something spectacular,' said Giovanni Fazio of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Initially called the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, the observatory is now named after the late Lyman Spitzer Jr., who in the 1940s first proposed putting telescopes in space to overcome the limiting effects of Earth's atmosphere.
The name was chosen from 7,000 public suggestions.
Spitzer, as the telescope is sure to be informally known, launched Aug. 25 and spent its first weeks in space undergoing instrument checkout. It is working 'extremely well,' project scientist Michael Werner, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said at a press conference."
Newly named Spitzer Space Telescope makes visual splash
NASA / JPL-Caltech / CfA
This image from the Spitzer Space Telescope showcases a nearby galaxy much like our own Milky Way, called M81. The picture resolves features not seen before, astronomers said, and will allow them to estimate the rate of star formation.
NASA announced the formal name of its newest space telescope on Thursday and released the first science pictures. The images support a promise that the orbiting observatory, now called the Spitzer Space Telescope, will provide top-notch science and entertainment on a par with the Hubble Space Telescope.
'Every time we take a picture, we see something spectacular,' said Giovanni Fazio of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Initially called the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, the observatory is now named after the late Lyman Spitzer Jr., who in the 1940s first proposed putting telescopes in space to overcome the limiting effects of Earth's atmosphere.
The name was chosen from 7,000 public suggestions.
Spitzer, as the telescope is sure to be informally known, launched Aug. 25 and spent its first weeks in space undergoing instrument checkout. It is working 'extremely well,' project scientist Michael Werner, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said at a press conference."
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