WISE Mission Thread; Launched Dec 14

[3488]

Re: WISE Mission Thread; Launch now Sched Dec 14

woot, a new telescope

the WISE will use detectors with a 1 million-pixel resolution.

That doesn't sound that much. There are number of hand held cameras that exceed 30 megapixel resolution. What am I missing here?

True, it does not sound much, but remember the detectors on WISE are radiation hardened & are specifically designed for space, not to mention the vibration of launch. Your hand held digital camera would not survive.

It is great news that the launch was successful. Another successful Delta 2 launch. I wonder if WISE will be used to observe the outer giant planets in the IR? Perhaps some extrasolar planets may be detectable (as in the IR the contrast against their parent suns is much less than in visible light).

Should be a fascinating mission. The launch could not have gone any better. :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.

 

[Testing]

Also keep in mind that the design, build an test most likely exceed 5 years.

 

[nailpounder]

I saw the launch this morning. I was waiting for two other of my crew at 6:10 am. to get to my home for a carpool to work. It was a beautiful launch. I live in Ventura Ca., about 60-80 miles south of Vandenberg. Watched the rocket for at least 20 seconds. Luckily , both the other two crew were on time to witness the event. When they arrived they asked what the hell I was looking at. I told them to shut the hell up and watch. We even saw the booster separation which left a large ball of trail debris that lasted at least 20 minutes. This was probably the 4th one I've seen from Vandenberg.
Can't imagine what it must be like to see the shuttle launch..............................................................Al

 

[HopDavid]

What is the difference between WISE and Japan's Akari Mission?

I guess Akari's data is presently being analyzed. If we have neighbors closer than Alpha Centauri, is it possible Akari will find them before WISE?

 

[Testing]

I missed it by minutes on the way into Chatsworth. All that was left was a wind blown smoke trail.

 

[MeteorWayne]

What is the difference between WISE and Japan's Akari Mission?

I guess Akari's data is presently being analyzed. If we have neighbors closer than Alpha Centauri, is it possible Akari will find them before WISE?

Light gathered by WISE's telescope is focused onto what is called a focal plane, which consists of four detector arrays, one for each infrared wavelength observed by WISE. Each of the detector arrays contain about one million pixels (1,032,256 to be exact). This is a giant technology leap over past infrared survey missions. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite's detectors contained only 62 pixels in total. (Akari, ~ 200,000 pixels in the IR Bands)

WISE FOV 47 Arc Min wide, Akari ~ 3.15 arc min.

 

[HopDavid]

Light gathered by WISE's telescope is focused onto what is called a focal plane, which consists of four detector arrays, one for each infrared wavelength observed by WISE. Each of the detector arrays contain about one million pixels (1,032,256 to be exact). This is a giant technology leap over past infrared survey missions. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite's detectors contained only 62 pixels in total. (Akari, ~ 200,000 pixels in the IR Bands)

WISE FOV 47 Arc Min wide, Akari ~ 3.15 arc min.

Is the field of view circular? If so, I get about .48 square degrees for Wise and about .0022 square degrees for Akari. So Wise looks at about 220 times as much real estate on the celestial sphere at a glance?

But it only has 5 times as many pixels. So I would guess Akari's images are higher resolution.

 

[Shpaget]

So Wise looks at about 220 times as much real estate on the celestial sphere at a glance?

But it only has 5 times as many pixels. So I would guess Akari's images are higher resolution.

Yes, but the purpose is different.
It's like trying to read a book at only fraction of one letter at a time (Akari) vs being able to see entire page at once (WISE).

 

[MeteorWayne]

Not circular, those are the sides of a square for WISE, and Akari's FOV was given as 10 arc min, so I get 2,209 arc min for WISE vs 10 for Akari

 

[MeteorWayne]

WISE's telescope cover is due to be opened on Tuesday Dec 29th:

http://www.space.com/news/091223-wise-s ... scope.html

After that, there are about 2 more weeks of checkouts and calibration before the main mission begins.

NASA Link:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/ ... 91222.html

The WISE team has also verified that the instrument is as cold as planned. The cryostat's outer shell is slightly below the planned 190 Kelvin (minus 83 degrees Celsius, or minus 117 degrees Fahrenheit), and the coldest of the detectors is less than 8 Kelvin (minus 265 degrees Celsius, or minus 447 degrees Fahrenheit).

All spacecraft systems are functioning normally, and both the low- and high-rate data links are working properly. The instrument's detectors are turned on, and though they are currently staring into the backside of the instrument cover, they will soon see the light of stars. WISE's first images will be released within one month after its one-month checkout.

 

[unclejoe101]

We were having a brief discussion from the WISE launch news article here on Space.com. Regarding space trash: why did the engineers go with explosive bolts and tossing the door? Seems as if there's plenty of space debris already up there. Was it simply cheaper? Just curious, since the Space Station is a ways lower in orbit, and flying bolts at 17,000+ mph are an un-WISE thing to have up there. :shock:

 

[Zipi]

WISE observatory sheds lens cap and takes in starlight
Posted: December 29, 2009

NASA's new cosmic mapper successfully jettisoned a protective lens cover Tuesday, opening its infrared eyes to Universe for an unprecedented survey in 2010.

Full article from Spaceflight Now: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d34 ... cover.html

 

[3488]

This has just been released.

An area of sky in Carina approx three times the apparent size of the Moon.

WISE first light image.

Andrew Brown.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Here's an excerpt from the release accompanying Andrew's image above:

Jan 6, 2010 - PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has captured its first look at the starry sky that it will soon begin surveying in infrared light.

Launched on Dec. 14, WISE will scan the entire sky for millions of hidden objects, including asteroids, "failed" stars and powerful galaxies. WISE data will serve as navigation charts for other missions, such as NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, pointing them to the most interesting targets the mission finds.

A new WISE infrared image was taken shortly after the space telescope's cover was removed, exposing the instrument's detectors to starlight for the first time. The picture shows about 3,000 stars in the Carina constellation and can be viewed online at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/ ... 00106.html .

The image covers a patch of sky about three times larger than the full moon, and was presented today at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington. The patch was selected because it does not contain any unusually bright objects, which could damage instrument detectors if observed for too long. The picture was taken while the spacecraft was staring at a fixed patch of sky and is being used to calibrate the spacecraft's pointing system.

 

[3488]

WISE discovers it's first Near Earth Asteroid.

Red dot in the centre of the frame is the tiny asteroid.

Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

That is really easy to see Even i could spot it
Impressive
2010 AB78
MPEC 2010-B33 : 2010 AB78

 

[Shpaget]

So, does the red color represent its difference in temperature compared to the blue dots (stars) or is it artificially colored afterward?

 

[MeteorWayne]

It represents a real temperature difference.

"The image shows three infrared wavelengths, with red representing the longest wavelength of 12 microns, and green and blue showing 4.6- and 3.4-micron light, respectively. The asteroid appears redder than the rest of the background stars because it is cooler and emits most of its light at longer infrared wavelengths. In visible light, this space rock is very faint and difficult to see. "

MW

 

[Shpaget]

Thx, MW
So, the asteroids really stand out, don't they
I wish WISE a bright future, full of new finds.

 

[Mobiusfiftyseven]

When do you think wise will find its first brown dwarf? How long will it take to announce a finding? Im interested in Brown Dwarfs and weather there are any close by. There probably is though.

Also, could wise find that earth-sized object that may be lurking beyond the kuiper belt?

 

[3488]

Hi Mobiusfiftyseven,

If there is a brown dwarf lurking closer to our Solar System than the Aplpha Centuari system, then WISE will certasinly find it given time.

One observation would not enough. If WISE detects a suspected close Brown Dwarf, then it will need tro be observed again after a period of say three months, to start to get a parallax to confirm it's proximity. Once several observations are made, the IR spectra conformed as a Brown Dwarf, then a discovery would be announced.

If there are larger bodies within the Kuiper Belt, I.E larger than Eris & Pluto, then WISE may find it, if it is not to reflective. Reason being a reflective body will be colder than a darker one. This too, would involve several observations. Example a white car is cooler than a black one on a hot day. Several of our solar system's most reflective bodies, the Saturn moon Enceladus, Neptune moon Triton, Jupiter moon Europa & KBO / Dwarf Planet Eris are all very ref;ective & colder than they would be, than if they were darker, as more radiation would be reradiated at IR wavelengths, in proportion to visible light.

Hi everyone,

Update.

WISE finds it;s first comet.

Like the asteroid image, the comet appears redder than the background stars.

Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

Astronomical Eye Candy from WISE First Images

February 17th, 2010



The WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) mission isn't wasting any time in making observations and releasing images. Already the new infrared observatory has spied its first comet and first near Earth asteroid, and today released a "sweet" collection of eye candy from across the universe. "We've got a candy store of images coming down from space," said Edward (Ned) Wright of UCLA, the principal investigator for WISE. "Everyone has their favorite flavors, and we've got them all."

 

[MeteorWayne]

Nice!!

 

[EarthlingX]

Yea

For comparison one of the Spitzer's old Andromeda pictures :


but Spitzer is not WIDE field ...

(just in case if anyone goes looking for hi-res pics as i did :roll: )

 

[EarthlingX]

From http://www.newscientist.com :
Dark, dangerous asteroids found lurking near Earth

13:49 05 March 2010 by David Shiga, Houston

An infrared space telescope has spotted several very dark asteroids that have been lurking unseen near Earth's orbit. Their obscurity and tilted orbits have kept them hidden from surveys designed to detect things that might hit our planet.

From Wise - Science: Asteroids :

WISE needs your help!

Even if you aren't orbiting the Earth, you can still help WISE scientists find near-Earth objects (NEOs) and potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs).
All you need is a telescope with a digital camera, a dark area to observe from, and a computer with an internet connection to look at your images and report your discoveries.

WISE JPL Home : http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/wise/index.cfm