Spitzer Space Telescope Observation Log of Executed and Scheduled Targets

Spitzer, NASA's fourth Great Observatory, carries an 85-cm cryogenic telescope and three instruments for infrared imaging and spectroscopy from 3.6 to 160 microns. This table from NASA HEASARC contains the weekly-updated log of executed and scheduled observations, derived from files provided by the Spitzer Science Center. It was launched in August 2003 with a 2.5-year cryogenic requirement, though a 5-year mission was considered possible.

Use Cases

• Identify astronomical targets observed in the infrared spectrum based on the telescope's 3.6 to 160 micron range.
• Plan complementary observations by cross-referencing scheduled or executed Spitzer observations.
• Analyze observation patterns and telescope usage over the mission's operational timeline.
• Serve as a discovery index for locating specific datasets in the Spitzer Science Center archives.

Strengths

• Data is updated on a weekly basis, providing relatively current information.
• Derived from authoritative source files maintained by the Spitzer Science Center (SSC).
• Focuses on a major NASA space observatory, the fourth in the Great Observatories program.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The table does not contain direct links to the actual Spitzer data products.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) via the Spitzer Science Center and HEASARC.

Collection Method

Derived from scheduled and executed observation log files obtained from the SSC website.

Time Range

Observations from the Spitzer mission, which launched in August 2003.

Freshness

Updated weekly; last metadata update was 2026-03-13.

Geography

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