Infrared detectors are sensitive to heat rather than visible light.
The infrared spectrograph also will be able to detect heat-emitting stars that are obscured by fine interstellar dust, notes James Houck, Cornell professor of astronomy who is the principal investigator on the infrared spectrograph project. In 1984 he led the team that submitted a design proposal. As a result, the spectrograph has no moving parts, and it will be unable to analyze molecular gas in interstellar clouds, the seedbeds of star formation. After five years, though, the distance of the observatory from the Earth will be equal to one-third of the distance from the Earth to the sun. About eight members of the Cornell astronomy department will be associated with the project during fabrication, growing to about 15 during the flight phase.