SPHEREx has made detailed multi-spectral observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, detecting an abundance of carbon dioxide gas in its coma (the extended gaseous atmosphere of a comet) and water ice in its nucleus. The observations were made between Aug. 7 to Aug. 15, when the object was about 290 million miles (470 million kilometers) from the Sun.

NASA’s newest astrophysics space telescope launched in March on a mission to create an all-sky map of the universe. Now settled into low-Earth orbit, SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) has begun delivering its sky survey data to a public archive on a weekly basis, allowing anyone to use the data to probe the secrets of the cosmos.

How a NASA space telescope came together in a university lab

After weeks of preparation, the space observatory has begun its science mission, taking about 3,600 unique images per day to create a map of the cosmos like no other.

The SPHEREx astrophysics observatory will help answer big questions about the origins of our universe, of galaxies, and the ingredients for life in our galaxy.