绘制整个夜空

This mosaic is composed of images covering the entire sky, taken by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) as part of WISE’s 2012 All-Sky Data Release. By observing the entire sky, WISE could search for faint objects, like distant galaxies, or survey groups of cosmic objects. Not visible to the human eye, infrared light is radiated by a plethora of cosmic objects, including cool, nearby stars and some of the most luminous galaxies in the universe.

The WISE mission ended in 2011 after the onboard coolant – needed for some infrared observations – ran out, but the spacecraft and some of its infrared detectors were still functional. So, in 2013, NASA repurposed it to track asteroids and other near-Earth objects, or NEOs. Both the mission and the spacecraft received a new name: NEOWISE.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

这幅拼接图由覆盖整个天空的图像组成，这些图像由宽视场红外测量探测器（WISE）拍摄，是WISE 2012年全天空数据发布的一部分。通过观测整个天空，WISE可以搜索微弱的物体，如遥远的星系，或调查宇宙天体群。人眼看不见红外光，红外光是由大量宇宙天体辐射出来，这些宇宙物体包括寒冷的邻近恒星和宇宙中一些最明亮的星系。

在一些红外观测所需的机载冷却剂用完后，WISE任务于2011年结束，但航天器及其一些红外探测器仍能正常工作。因此，2013年，NASA将其重新用于跟踪小行星和其他近地天体（NEO）。任务和航天器都有了一个新名字：NEOWISE。

影像来源：NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA