According to a news release by NASA, WISE, launched on Dec. 14 will scan the space in search of millions of hidden objects like asteroids, and other numerous stars.
As soon as the space telescope's cover was removed, WISE captured a new infrared image thus exposing the instrument's detectors to starlight for the first time.
The image covers a patch of sky about three times larger than the full moon. The patch was selected because it does not contain any unusually bright objects, which could damage instrument detectors if observed for too long. The picture was taken while thespacecraft was staring at a fixed patch of sky and is being used to calibrate the spacecraft's pointing system, as reported in the release.
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