Hi there,
It was only a short while ago (Dec 14 2009) that WISE was launched to scna the sky in infrared but now it has run out of coolant! It’s a bit sad really…
Feb. 17 – The WISE Spacecraft transmitter was turned off for the final time at 12:00 noon PST today (Feb 17). WISE Principal Investigator Ned Wright sent the last command. The Spacecraft will remain in hibernation without ground contacts awaiting possible future use.
http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/ Now it will probably be used for scanning nearby NEOs (Near Earth Objects) WISE has contributed significantly during it short life – and many great images have been seen by many – please also check out the NASA site as well:
The blue star near the center of this image is Zeta Ophiuchi. When seen in visible light it appears as a relatively dim red star surrounded by other dim stars and no dust. However, in this infrared …
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/main/index.html
WISE’s Last Light
On the morning of February 1, 2011, NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, took its last snapshot of the sky. This “last light” image is reminiscent of the “first light” image from …
Regards
Estelle