Ten years ago, a Delta II rocket launched NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope from Cape Canaveral, Fla.As the fourth Great Observatory to enter into space, Spitzer has studied comets and asteroids, counted stars, and most notably, discovered "buckyballs"— soccer-ball-shaped carbon spheres crucial to star birth. The telescope's infrared vision allows it to see the coldest, farthest, and dustiest parts of space with incredible detail and clarity.
Entering its second-decade of space scrutiny, Spitzer must now undertake the task of helping NASA observe and potentially capture and redirect an asteroid nearing Earth.
-This infrared image shows a Helix nebula 700 light years away from Earth in the constellation Aquarius.-
Source: NASA-The Carina nebula, shown below, contains Eta Carinae, a massive star around 100 times the size of the sun. -
Source: NASA-Two extremely bright stars omit a greenish fog, comprised of carbon and hydrogen compounds found right here on Earth in vehicle exhaust.-
Source: Caltech
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