Both ground-based and space-based infrared telescopes have been around for some time, but with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers will be able to capture the infrared sky in unprecedented detail. It will allow us to see warm planets crammed close to their star and distant galaxies so ancient that their bright visible light has shifted from red to dim infrared. It will change our understanding of the early universe and may reveal elements of extraterrestrial life. A JWST engineering image of the star 2MASS J17554042 + 6551277, uses a red filter to optimize the visual contrast. Credits: NASA / STScI But there is one aspect of JWST that is very restrictive. It is designed to capture high resolution images of small areas of the sky. This is true for most telescopes, as it is difficult to create a wide and detailed image. Because of this, JWST will only be able to capture a fraction of the sky over time. The Hubble Space Telescope, for example, gave us stunning views of the sky, but in its 30-year mission, it has recorded only about 0.1% of the visible sky. To address this limitation, we can create uranium telescopes. The Vera Rubin Observatory is built especially for this purpose. The 8-meter-long mirror is designed to view the sky at various latitudes of the Moon. When completed, it will record most of the southern sky every few days. Not only will it allow astronomers to study a huge range of celestial objects, but it will also allow them to study how these objects change over time. It will be an amazing tool for the astronomy of visible light, but what about infrared? Here comes the upcoming SPHEREx mission. Scheduled to launch by April 2025, SPHEREx will capture 99% of the sky every six months. This has a cost to resolve. SPHEREx images will not be as detailed as JWST. But because they will both see infrared light, they can work together to see more of our universe. SPHEREx will focus on the heat of the deep universe background and look for water and complex organic molecules hidden in the gas and dust of star nurseries. And when SPHEREx finds something unusual, JWST can step in to take a closer look. The James Webb Telescope will definitely give us some amazing views in the years to come. With SPHEREx coming to his heels soon, JWST infrared revelations are definitely just the beginning. Reference: The SPHEREx mission

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