Korean Participation in All-sky Infrared Spectro-Photomeric Survey Mission, SPHEREx

Since the high throughput for diffuse objects and the wide-area survey even with a small telescope can be achieved in space, infrared (IR) obervations have been tried through small missions in Korea. Based upon the previous technical development for infrared spectro-photometric instrument, NISS (Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer for Star formation history) onboard NEXTSat-1, we participated in the all-sky infrared spectro-photometric survey mission, SPHEREx. The SPEHREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) was selected as the NASA MIDEX (Medium-class Explorer) mission (PI Institute: Caltech) in this February. As an international partner, KASI will take part in the hardware development, the operation and the science for the SPHEREx. The SPHEREx will perform the first all-sky infrared spectro-photometric survey to probe the origin of our Universe, to explore the origin and evolution of galaxies, and to explore whether planets around other stars could harbor life. For the purpose of the all-sky survey, the SPHEREx is designed to have a wide FoV of 3.5 × 11.3 deg. as well as wide spectral range from 0.75 to 5.0㎛. Here, we report the status of the SPHEREx project and the progress in the Korean participation.