The Spitzer Space Telescope is a powerful space telescope that has revolutionized our understanding of the Universe. Launched in 2003, Spitzer has made groundbreaking discoveries in a wide range of astronomical topics, from studying the formation of stars and planets to searching for evidence of extrasolar planets and detecting galaxies hidden by interstellar dust.
Spitzer is uniquely equipped to study objects at infrared wavelengths, which are invisible to optical telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope. Infrared light can penetrate through dense clouds of gas and dust that block visible light, making Spitzer an ideal tool for observing some of the most obscured regions of space.
Spitzer’s observations have led to major advances in our understanding of star formation, planetary system formation and evolution, galaxy evolution, and cosmology. In addition, Spitzer data have been used to discover more than 3,200 extrasolar planets (as of May 2019), making it one of the most successful planet-hunting telescopes ever built.
Spitzer was designed to be a general-purpose infrared observatory, with science goals spanning a wide range of astrophysical topics. The telescope’s three primary instruments – an infrared camera (IRAC), an infrared spectrograph (IRS), and a multiband imaging photometer (MIPS) – allow Spitzer to target a diverse set of science objectives.
IRAC provides high-resolution imaging at four different infrared wavelengths: 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8 microns (red). This wavelength coverage makes IRAC well suited for studying everything from nearby brown dwarfs to distant galaxies billions of light-years away.
IRS combines moderate spectral resolution with high sensitivity over a broad wavelength range from 5-38 microns. This makes IRS ideal for observing faint sources such as young stellar objects or distant galaxies whose light has been redshifted into the infrared due to the expansion of the Universe. MIPS observes at 24-, 70-, 160-micron wavelengths using two separate detectors; one optimized for point sources such as stars and exoplanets, and one designed for extended emission from dusty galactic disks and star forming regions. These three instruments allow Spitzer to address a wide variety scientific questions across the entire electromagnetic spectrum