NASA SPHEREx examines – Where does water supply come from on Earth? Well, here comes a wonderful answer, and this answer comes to us from outer space. NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope, Cygnus These ice clusters, named interstellar glaciers, are made of chemicals necessary for life to form.

Dust as a Cosmic Shield The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal on April 15, 2026, was authored by astronomer Joseph Hora of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. SPHEREx was launched into space in March 2025 and is currently scanning the sky in 102 infrared bands and mapping the entire sky in the first of its four planned scans.

In the areas with the most ice in Cygnus, SPHEREx observed, there are lanes of dark dust made up of tiny particles, smaller than those found in cigarette smoke. The discovery could change our view of life beyond Earth, as the icy reservoirs that help preserve water in space are thought to play a role in the formation of new star systems. As more gases and debris attach to the planets through gravitational attraction, icy deposits fall into the newly formed planets and may supply the ingredients critical for life.

This mission is going to last for two years and during that time a map of the diversity of ice in our galaxy will be prepared.