Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

A space tool looks at the sky.

It uses special light to see in the dark. This light helps it find dim stars. It also finds big clouds of dust.

The tool looks for rocks in space. Some rocks are near Earth. Finding them helps keep us safe.

It found many new things. It found many asteroids. It even found a new comet.

It is a great helper for science. Do you like looking at stars?

NASA launched a space telescope named WISE in December 2009.

It uses infrared light to see the sky. Infrared is a type of light we cannot see with our eyes. This light helps the tool see through thick dust. It can find hidden star clusters and new stars.

WISE took many pictures of the whole sky. It took 1.5 million images in ten months. It found thousands of small planets and many stars. It even found the first Y-type brown dwarf. A brown dwarf is a very cool and dim star.

In 2013, NASA started the tool again. This new mission was called NEOWISE. It looked for near-Earth objects. These are rocks like comets and asteroids. Finding them helps us know if they might hit Earth.

The NEOWISE mission ended in July 2024. Solar activity made its orbit decay. This means it began to fall toward Earth. The tool will reenter our atmosphere later this year.

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is a special NASA space telescope.

It was built to look at the entire sky using infrared light. This is a type of light that humans cannot see with their eyes. Infrared light is very helpful because it can pass through thick clouds of space dust. This allows the telescope to see things that are usually hidden. By using this light, WISE can find new star clusters and distant galaxies.

This telescope works by taking many different kinds of pictures. It uses four different wavelength bands to see different things in space. One band helps it see stars and galaxies. Another band detects heat from dim objects like brown dwarfs. A third band finds heat from asteroids. The final band is great for seeing dust where new stars are born.

During its first ten months, WISE took 1.5 million images. It took a new picture every 11 seconds while orbiting Earth. The telescope stays pointed away from Earth to keep its view clear.

NASA began working on this mission a long time ago. The project was first funded in 1999 under a different name. It was called the Next Generation Sky Survey back then. After some changes, the name became WISE in December 2002. Ball Aerospace & Technologies built the spacecraft part of the tool. Many other groups helped build the telescope and its electronics. The mission was finally launched in December 2009 from California.

WISE found many amazing things in our solar system and beyond. It discovered thousands of minor planets and many new star clusters. It even found the first Earth trojan asteroid.

In 2010, it had already seen over 33,500 new asteroids and comets. The telescope also found the Luhman 16 star system. This system is the third-closest star system to our own. These discoveries help scientists understand how our universe works.

In 2013, NASA started the mission again as NEOWISE. This new mission focused on finding near-Earth objects. These are comets and asteroids that could come close to our planet.

Finding these objects is a very important job for safety. The NEOWISE mission ended its work on July 31, 2024. Increased solar activity caused its orbit to decay. This means the satellite will soon reenter Earth's atmosphere.

It has been a very successful tool for exploring space.

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, known as WISE, is a NASA space telescope designed for infrared astronomy.

Unlike visible light telescopes, WISE observes the universe using infrared radiation. This type of light is essential because it can penetrate thick interstellar dust clouds. These clouds often hide regions where stars are currently forming. By using infrared, WISE can reveal hidden star clusters and distant galaxies. The mission was part of NASA's Explorers Program and launched in December 2009.

To capture these views, the telescope utilizes four specific wavelength bands. Each band is tuned to detect different types of infrared radiation. The first band, at 3.4 micrometers (μm), provides sensitivity to stars and galaxies. The second band, at 4.6 μm, detects thermal radiation from sub-stellar objects like brown dwarfs. The third band, at 12 μm, is used to detect thermal radiation from asteroids. Finally, the 22 μm band is sensitive to dust in star-forming regions. To keep its instruments extremely cold, the telescope used a solid hydrogen coolant. This coolant maintained the instruments at a temperature of 17 K.

The spacecraft operated in a circular, polar, Sun-synchronous orbit. During its primary ten-month mission, it took approximately 1.5 million images. It captured a new image every 11 seconds. The telescope was designed to scan the sky with high precision. It aimed to image 99% of the sky at least eight times. Each image covered a 47 arcminute field of view with a 6 arcsecond resolution. To maintain stability, the satellite was three-axis stabilized. It pointed its solar cells toward the Sun and its telescope away from Earth.

The history of the WISE mission began long before its 2009 launch. It was originally proposed in 1999 as the Next Generation Sky Survey (NGSS). After several years of study and re-submissions, NASA accepted the proposal in 2002. The name was changed to WISE in December 2002. Ball Aerospace & Technologies built the spacecraft bus using the RS-300 architecture. Other organizations contributed specialized parts. SSG Precision Optronics built the optics and scan mirror. Lockheed Martin provided the cryostat for cooling. The Space Dynamics Laboratory built the instruments and electronics.

WISE achieved incredible sensitivity during its survey. Its sensitivity was 1,000 times better than the 1983 IRAS satellite survey. It was also 500,000 times more sensitive than the COBE satellite at certain wavelengths. This precision allowed for massive discoveries within our solar system. Scientists estimated WISE would find 300,000 main-belt asteroids. Of these, about 100,000 were expected to be new discoveries. The mission also targeted 700 near-Earth objects (NEO). It was projected to find about 300 previously undiscovered NEOs.

The telescope's discoveries changed our understanding of space. It identified the first Y-type brown dwarf, a very cool and dim star-like object.

It also discovered the first Earth trojan asteroid. WISE found the Luhman 16 system, which is the third-closest star system to Earth. Beyond our solar system, it unveiled new star clusters like Camargo 18 and Majaess 101. It also detected proto-planetary discs, which are the building blocks of new planets. The mission expected to find at least 1,000 of these discs.

In 2013, NASA reactivated the telescope for a new mission called NEOWISE. This phase focused on searching for near-Earth objects like comets and asteroids.

This reactivation helped scientists track objects that could potentially collide with Earth. However, the mission eventually faced physical limits. The spacecraft lacked an onboard propulsion system for orbital maintenance. Additionally, increased solar activity began to hasten the decay of its orbit. The NEOWISE science survey officially concluded on July 31, 2024. The spacecraft was expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere later that same year.