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WISE

WISE Project Logo

With a launch scheduled for November 2009, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) will provide an all-sky survey from 3.5 to 23 microns up to 1000 times more sensitive than the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) survey.

WISE will:

  • find the most luminous galaxies in the Universe,
  • find the closest stars to the Sun,
  • detect most main belt asteroids larger than 3 km,
  • extend the 2MASS survey into the thermal infrared,
  • enable a wide variety of studies ranging from the evolution of protoplanetary debris disks to the history of star formation in normal galaxies, and
  • provide the essential catalog for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

People

Photo of Peter Eisenhardt
Peter Eisenhardt
Structure of the Universe - WISE Project Scientist
Photo of Daniel Stern
Daniel Stern
Structure of the Universe - NuSTAR Project Scientist