Herschel Space Observatory
-
Herschel Space Observatory
This is an artist's concept of the Herschel Space Observatory. Herschel and the Planck observatory lifted off together on May 14, 2009 aboard an Ariane ECA rocket. Image Credit: ESA - D. Ducros, 2009
› Larger view
-
Misty Star in the Sea Serpent
This artist's concept, based on data from NASA's Herschel telescope, illustrates an icy planet-forming disk around a young star called TW Hydrae, located about 175 light-years away in the Hydra, or Sea Serpent, constellation.
› Full image and caption
-
Orion's Rainbow of Infrared Light
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and ESA's Herschel mission combined to show this view of the Orion nebula, found below the three belt stars in the famous constellation of Orion the Hunter, highlights fledgling stars hidden in the gas and clouds.
› Full image and caption
-
Herschel Sees Through Ghostly Pillars
This image of the Eagle nebula shows the self-emission of the intensely cold nebula's gas and dust as never seen before; the nebula's intricate tendril nature, with vast cavities forms an almost cave-like surrounding to the famous pillars.
› Full image and caption
-
Andromeda is So Hot 'n' Cold
This mosaic of the Andromeda spiral galaxy highlights explosive stars in its interior, and cooler, dusty stars forming in its many rings. This is a combination of observations from the Herschel Space Observatory and the XMM-Newton telescope.
› Full image and caption
-
A Dwarf Galaxy's Star Bar and Dusty Wing
In combined data from ESA's Herschel and NASA's Spitzer telescopes, irregular distribution of dust in the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clear. A stream of dust extends to left, known as the galaxy's 'wing,' and a bar of star formation appears to right.
› Full image and caption
-
The Case of the Warped Galactic Ring
This image from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory reveals a suspected ring at the center of our galaxy is warped for reasons scientists cannot explain. The ring is twisted so that part of it rises above and below the plane of our Milky Way galaxy.
› Full image and caption
-
Big Hole Revealed in Infrared
The dark hole seen in the green cloud at the top of this image, captured by ESA's Herschel Telescope, was likely carved out by multiple jets and blasts of radiation.
› Full image and caption
-
Dark Wombs of Stars
This image from the Herschel Observatory, a European Space Agency mission, reveals some of the coldest and darkest material in our galaxy. The yellow filaments show the coldest dust dotted with the youngest embryonic stars..
› Full image and caption
-
Galactic Bubble
The large bubble is an embryonic star that looks set to turn into one of the brightest stars in our Milky Way galaxy in this infrared image from the Herschel Space Telescope.
› Full image and caption
Mission Summary
A space-based telescope studying the universe in infrared light, the European Space Agency's Herschel mission is responsible for numerous findings about dark matter, galaxies and other cosmic mysteries.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory contributed key technology to two of Herschel's three detector instruments and makes important contributions to data and science analyses. The entire mission is a collaboration of 10 countries and more than 40 organizations.
Key Discoveries
August 2011: The Herschel Space Observatory's large telescope and state-of-the-art infrared detectors provide the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space -- discovered in the Orion star-forming complex.
Scientific Instrument(s)
- Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS)
- Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE)
- Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI)
