Early SPHEREx Observations: NGC 1760 at 0.96 microns

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's SPHEREx mission is observing the entire sky in 102 colors of infrared light not visible to the human eye. This image shows a section of sky in one wavelength (0.96 microns), revealing the glow of ionized gaseous sulfur (SIII), heated by nearby stars to a degree that it has lost two of its electrons. It is one component of the NGC 1760 star-forming nebula that is part of the neighboring galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This image was constructed using data from only four pointings of the multispectral detectors on SPHEREx, taken as the team prepared for the start of science operations on 1 May, 2025. Strips from the four observations were assembled together to create this image at a single wavelength of light. The grey strip along the top of the image is an area not mapped at this wavelength in the four available pointings.