Speaker
Description
The SpectroPhotometer for the History of the universe Epoch of Reionization and ices Explorer (SPHEREx) is the newest medium-class astrophysics mission in NASA’s explorer line. Launched in March 2025, SPHEREx surveys the entire celestial sphere spectroscopically, with R=41 to 130 measurements across the NIR, from 0.75um to 5um. This is enabled by two focal plane mosaics, each with three H2RGs mounted behind linear variable filters. They are read out using a custom Video 8 ASIC chip, designed for low correlated noise performance. The mission is optimized for three science goals: to constrain models of inflation through mapping the large-scale structure of the universe; to study the extragalactic background light through intensity mapping, and to survey the plane of the Milky Way for water and other biogenic ices. In this talk, I’ll give an overview of the mission and show some exciting early results from the first complete all-sky spectroscopic survey.