* Astronomy

All WISE Survey Data Now Available to the Public

Today, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the NEOWISE project released the remaining set of observations collected by the WISE infrared space telescope, making all survey data now available to the public. This latest release of data comes from the period of October 2010 - February 2011, after the satellite's solid hydrogen coolant had run out and the telescope had warmed up to a comparatively balmy 73.5 K (73.5 degrees centigrade above absolute zero, or minus 327 degrees Fahrenheit). During the fully cryogenic phase of the mission the two long-wavelength detectors (12 and 22 microns) had been as cold as 8 K and the shorter two wavelengths (3.4 and 4.6 microns) were a touch warmer at 32 K. After the warm-up, the shorter wavelength detectors continued to operate with sensitivities close to what they had during the cryogenic survey. NASA funded this phase of the mission, known as NEOWISE, to continue survey operations with these two detectors until it had completed a survey of the Main Asteroid Belt.
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