SPHEREx Simulator Models Infrared Sky for NASA's All-Sky Survey

Astronomy

SPHEREx Simulator Models Infrared Sky for NASA's All-Sky Survey

Modeling science data for NASA's SPHEREx near-infrared survey

From

Arxiv

NASA's SPHEREx Sky Simulator is a software tool that models the infrared sky as observed by the SPHEREx mission, helping predict and analyze data before launch. It incorporates astrophysical sources, instrument behavior, and survey plans to generate realistic simulated data.

Why it matters: The Simulator predicts SPHEREx's sensitivity and guides data analysis pipeline development before flight.

The big picture: It models sky emission, instrument effects, and noise to produce realistic infrared observations across 102 spectral channels.

Stunning stat: SPHEREx’s 5σ point source sensitivity is estimated at AB magnitude 18.5–19 (0.75–3.8 μm) and 16.6–18 (3.8–5 μm).

Bottom line: Post-launch, the Simulator will evolve using actual data to refine models and control systematic errors in SPHEREx science.