By Koh Hyunjeong

The Korea AeroSpace Administration on Dec. 21 announced the release of the first all-sky map video captured by Spherex (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), a space telescope jointly developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and NASA of the U.S.

This is the first space map created by spectrally covering the entire sky in 102 infrared colors.

Spherex orbits Earth 14.5 times a day, detecting and observing infrared wavelengths not visible to the human eye and capturing about 3,600 images. The international research team digitally synthesized images shot over six months to complete the map.

The telescope's all-sky observation data will be used for major scientific missions like exploring the history of the universe, formation and evolution of galaxies, and origins of water and ice.

The team will conduct three all-sky observations during Spherex's two-year primary operations period.

The telescope began full-scale observations on May 1 after being launched into space on March 12.

hjkoh@korea.kr