NASAs’ SPHEREx spacecraft this week yielded the universe in 360 degrees and in the form of an infrared map comprised of 102 colors, after six months of surveying space in every direction.

The spacecraft, on a polar orbit around Earth, was launched last March and is equipped with an infrared telescope fitted with a 20-centimeter mirror. Among others, SPHEREx can survey an area of the sky equivalent to 20 full moons.
According to NASA, it takes about 3,600 images per day along a single circular strip of sky. As the Earth moves around the Sun, SPHEREx’s field of view shifts.

Each of these 102 colors in the map represents a wavelength of infrared light containing unique information about galaxies, stars, star-forming regions and other cosmic objects.