[Music throughout] Narrator: WFIRST, the Widefield Infrared
Survey Telescope, will capture images unlike any satellite before it.
WFIRST will have the same image resolution as Hubble, but will cover
an area 100 times larger. To see what the sky
will look like to WFIRST, scientists use special processing
techniques to create simulated images. In this case,
they began with a Hubble mosaic of Andromeda, one of the closest
galaxies to our own. This mosaic was created out of over
400 individual Hubble images. WFIRST will be able to
create a similar mosaic with just two images.
The simulated image is not just special because of its size, however.
It also shows Andromeda as it will appear through WFIRST’s optics and
infrared filters. With an unprecedented combination of breadth
and depth, WFIRST will open a new era in viewing
our universe.