NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope will transmit the final science and engineering data to mission control today and then be commanded off, ending its amazing and surprising mission. Spitzer has enabled groundbreaking advances in our understanding of planetary systems around other stars, the evolution of galaxies in the nearby and distant universe, the structure of our Milky Way galaxy, the infinite variety in the lives of stars, and the constituents of our Solar System. Long after Spitzer has ceased transmissions, scientists will continue making discoveries from its 16 years of data for decades to come. NASA’s Spitzer used an ultra-sensitive infrared telescope to study asteroids, comets, planets and distant galaxies. Some of its top discoveries include:  Recipe for “comet soup.” Spitzer observed the aftermath of the collision between NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft and comet Tempel 1, finding that cometary material in our own solar system resembles that around nearby stars. The largest known ring around Saturn, a wispy, fine structure with 300 … Continue reading →