Starship Asterisk*

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

This simulated image of a portion of our neighboring galaxy Andromeda (M31) provides
a preview of the vast expanse and fine detail that can be covered with just a single
pointing of WFIRST. Using information gleaned from hundreds of Hubble observations,
the simulated image covers a swath roughly 34,000 light-years across, showcasing the
red and infrared light of more than 50 million individual stars detectable with WFIRST.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/USRA

---

Imagine a fleet of 100 Hubble Space Telescopes, deployed in a strategic space-invader-shaped array a million miles from Earth, scanning the universe at warp speed.

With NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), scheduled for launch in the mid-2020s, this vision will (effectively) become reality.

WFIRST will capture the equivalent of 100 high-resolution Hubble images in a single shot, imaging large areas of the sky 1,000 times faster than Hubble. In several months, WFIRST could survey as much of the sky in near-infrared light — in just as much detail — as Hubble has over its entire three decades. ...

This simulated image of a portion of our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda (M31), provides a preview of the vast expanse and fine detail that can be covered with just a single pointing of WFIRST. Using information gleaned from hundreds of Hubble observations, the simulated image covers a swath roughly 34,000 light-years across, showcasing the red and infrared light of more than 50 million individual stars detectable with WFIRST.

While it may appear to be a somewhat haphazard arrangement of 18 separate images, the simulation actually represents a single shot. Eighteen square detectors, 4096 by 4096 pixels each, make up WFIRST’s Wide Field Instrument (WFI) and give the telescope its unique window into space. ...