Posted: Thu, Jan 7, 2010, 2:08 PM ET (1908 GMT)
NASA released on Wednesday the first image taken by a new infrared observatory launched last month. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft is designed to survey the whole sky at infrared wavelengths to search for objects ranging from nearby asteroids to distant galaxies. The WISE image released Wednesday was taken shortly after the telescope jettisoned its lens cover last week, two weeks after its launch from California. WISE will begin its survey once it completes its calibration, and will continue observations until the spacecraft exhausts its supply of frozen hydrogen needed to cool its detectors in October.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Sky & Telescope article
•  Science News article
•  SPACE.com article
•  NASA press release