NASA Herschel Science Center's Portal to the Cool Universe

Shining a Light on Cool Pools of Gas in the Galaxy

Press Release • nhsc2013-018 • Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

The stuff of stars is not always easy to see. Thanks to the Herschel Space Observatory, invisible pools of gas in our galaxy are being mapped better than before. More ...

Herschel Space Observatory Finds Galaxy Mega Merger

Press Release • nhsc2013-017 • Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013

A massive and rare merging of two galaxies has been spotted in images taken by the Herschel space observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation. More ...

Milky Way Black Hole Snacks on Hot Gas

Feature • nhsc2013-016 • Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

The supermassive black hole at the core of our Milky Way galaxy is gobbling up hot gas, according to a new study from the Herschel space observatory. More ...

Herschel Completes Its 'Cool' Journey In Space

Press Release • nhsc2013-015 • Monday, April 29th, 2013

Herschel has produced an intricate view of the remains of a star that died in a stellar explosion a millennium ago. It has provided further proof that the interstellar dust which lies throughout our Galaxy is created when massive stars reach the end of their lives. More ...

Herschel Links Water Around Jupiter to Comet Impact

Feature • nhsc2013-014 • Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Astronomers trace water in Jupiter's intermediate atmospheric layer back to the famous Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact of 19 years ago. More ...

Astronomers Discover Massive Star Factory in Early Universe

Feature • nhsc2013-012 • Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Busy-bee galaxy seen churning out stars when our universe was just a baby. More ...

Retired Star Found with Planets and Debris Disk

Feature • nhsc2013-011 • Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

The Herschel Space Observatory has provided the first images of a dust belt - produced by colliding comets or asteroids - orbiting a subgiant star known to host a planetary system More ...

Hunting Massive Stars with Herschel

Feature • nhsc2013-010 • Thursday, March 28th, 2013

In a new view of a vast star-forming cloud called W3, the Herschel space observatory tells the story of how massive stars are born. More ...

Herschel Discovers Some of the Youngest Stars Ever Seen

Press Release • nhsc2013-009 • Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

The 15 newly observed protostars turned up by surprise in a survey of the biggest site of star formation near our solar system, located in the constellation Orion. More ...

Herschel to Complete Its Mission Soon

Press Release • nhsc2013-008 • Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

The Herschel space observatory is expected to exhaust its supply of liquid helium coolant in the coming weeks, after spending more than three years studying the cool universe and surpassing the expectations of the international team of scientists involved. More ...

A Cool Discovery About the Sun's Next-door Twin

Feature • nhsc2013-007 • Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

The Herschel Space Observatory has detected a cool layer in the atmosphere of Alpha Centauri A, the first time this has been seen in a star beyond our own Sun. The finding is not only important for understanding the Sun's activity, but could also help in the quest to discover proto-planetary systems around other stars. More ...

Black Holes and Star Formation: A Herschel Perspective

Press Release • nhsc2013-006 • Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

The possible effects of supermassive black holes on star formation in their host galaxies pose a tricky puzzle. Galaxy surveys from Herschel are being used to try to understand this complex interaction. More ...

Herschel Finds Star Past its Prime Possibly Making Planets

Press Release • nhsc2013-005 • Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

A star thought to have passed the age at which it can form planets may, in fact, be creating new worlds. The disk of material surrounding the surprising star called TW Hydrae may be massive enough to make even more planets than we have in our own solar system. More ...

Cool, New Views of Andromeda Galaxy

Feature • nhsc2013-004 • Monday, January 28th, 2013

Two new eye-catching views from the Herschel space observatory are fit for a princess. They show the elegant spiral galaxy Andromeda, named after the mythical Greek princess known for her beauty. More ...

Betelgeuse Star Braces for Crash with Strange Bar

Feature • nhsc2013-003 • Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

Orion, the famous hunter presiding over northern winter skies, may experience a stellar crash in its future. The red star at its shoulder, called Betelgeuse, appears to be set to collide with a dusty "wall" in 5,000 years. More ...

Herschel Spacecraft Eyes Asteroid Apophis

Feature • nhsc2013-002 • Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

Scientists using the Herschel Space Observatory made new observations of asteroid Apophis as it approached Earth this past weekend. The data show the asteroid to be bigger than first estimated, and less reflective. More ...

NASA, ESA Telescopes Find Evidence For Asteroid Belt Around Vega

Press Release • nhsc2013-001 • Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a large asteroid belt around the star Vega, the second brightest star in northern night skies. The scientists used data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, in which NASA plays an important role. More ...

Armchair Science: Bag and Tag Glowing Galactic Clouds

Feature • nhsc2012-015 • Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

A new galactic game launches today that lets citizen scientists identify the glowing clouds where future stars will be born. The online experience, called Clouds, is a new addition to the Milky Way Project, where everyone can help astronomers to sort and measure our galaxy. More ...

Crab Nebula

External • nhsc2012-014 • Thursday, December 13th, 2012

Herschel Serves Up Solar Systems with Extra Comets

Feature • nhsc2012-013 • Tuesday, November 27th, 2012

Astronomers have discovered vast comet belts surrounding two nearby planetary systems known to host only Earth-to-Neptune-mass worlds. More ...

Life and Death in a Star-Forming Cloud

Feature • nhsc2012-012 • Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

New stars can be seen bubbling up around the remains of a dramatic stellar explosion in this new portrait from two space telescopes. More ...

Fireworks in the Early Universe

External • nhsc2012-011 • Friday, September 14th, 2012

Galaxies in the early universe grew fast by rapidly making new stars. Such prodigious star formation episodes, characterized by the intense radiation of the newborn stars, were often accompanied by fireworks in the form of energy bursts caused by the massive central black hole accretion in these galaxies. This discovery by a group of astronomers led by Peter Barthel of the Kapteyn Institute of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands is published today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. More ...

Flying Along the Vela Ridge

Press Release • nhsc2012-010 • Monday, July 9th, 2012

A beautiful blue butterfly flutters towards a nest of warm dust and gas, above an intricate network of cool filaments in this image of the Vela C region by ESA’s Herschel space observatory. More ...

Herschel Sees Intergalactic Bridge Aglow with Stars

Press Release • nhsc2012-009 • Thursday, May 17th, 2012

The Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a giant, galaxy-packed filament ablaze with billions of new stars. The filament connects two clusters of galaxies that, along with a third cluster, will smash together and give rise to one of the largest galaxy superclusters in the universe. More ...

Overfed Black Holes Shut Down Galactic Star-Making

Press Release • nhsc2012-007 • Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

The Herschel Space Observatory has shown galaxies with the most powerful, active black holes at their cores produce fewer stars than galaxies with less active black holes. The results are the first to demonstrate black holes suppressed galactic star formation when the universe was less than half its current age. More ...

Herschel Spots Comet Massacre Around Nearby Star

Feature • nhsc2012-006 • Thursday, April 12th, 2012

New data from the Herschel Space Observatory suggest comets are constantly smashing together around the star Fomalhaut. More ...

Dark Heart of a Cosmic Collision

Feature • nhsc2012-005 • Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

The cataclysmic history of a giant galaxy is on display in a new image that combines infrared and X-ray observations. More ...

GOODS-Herschel Reveals Gas Mass Role in Creating Fireworks Versus Beacons of Star Formation

External • nhsc2012-004 • Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

A study of galaxies in the deepest far-infrared image of the sky, obtained by the Herschel Space Observatory, highlights the two contrasting ways that stars formed in galaxies up to 12 billion years ago. Dr Georgios Magdis will present the results at the National Astronomy Meeting in Manchester. More ...

Young Stars Flicker Amidst Clouds of Gas and Dust

Feature • nhsc2012-003 • Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Astronomers have spotted young stars in the Orion nebula changing right before their eyes, thanks to the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. More ...

Revisiting the 'Pillars of Creation'

Feature • nhsc2012-002 • Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

In 1995, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took an iconic image of the Eagle nebula, dubbed the "Pillars of Creation," highlighting its finger-like pillars where new stars are thought to be forming. Now, the Herschel Space Observatory has a new, expansive view of the region captured in longer-wavelength infrared light. More ...

Herschel and Spitzer See Nearby Galaxies' Stardust

Press Release • nhsc2012-001 • Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

The cold dust that builds blazing stars is revealed in new images that combine observations from the Herschel Space Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope. The new images map the dust in the galaxies known as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two of the closest neighbors to our own Milky Way galaxy. More ...

Herschel Finds Oceans of Water in Disk of Nearby Star

Press Release • nhsc2011-018 • Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Using data from the Herschel Space Observatory, astronomers have detected for the first time cold water vapor enveloping a dusty disk around a young star. The findings suggest that this disk, which is poised to develop into a solar system, contains great quantities of water, suggesting that water-covered planets like Earth may be common in the universe. More ...

Space Observatory Provides Clues to Creation of Earth's Oceans

Press Release • nhsc2011-017 • Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Astronomers have found a new cosmic source for the same kind of water that appeared on Earth billions of years ago and created the oceans. The findings may help explain how Earth's surface ended up covered in water. More ...

Saturn's Moon Enceladus Spreads its Influence

Feature • nhsc2011-016 • Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Chalk up one more feat for Saturn's intriguing moon Enceladus. The small, dynamic moon spews out dramatic plumes of water vapor and ice. More ...

Herschel Mission Finds Galactic Growth Slow and Steady

Feature • nhsc2011-015 • Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

New findings from the Herschel Space Observatory paint a more tranquil picture of galaxy growth than previously thought. More ...

Herschel Telescope Detects Oxygen Molecules in Space

Press Release • nhsc2011-014 • Monday, August 1st, 2011

The Herschel Space Observatory's large telescope and state-of-the-art infrared detectors have provided the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space. The molecules were discovered in the Orion star-forming complex. More ...

Twisted Tale of our Galaxy's Ring

Press Release • nhsc2011-013 • Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

New observations from the Herschel Space Observatory show a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few portions of the ring, which stretches across more than 600 light-years, were known before. More ...

Herschel Helps Solve Mystery Of Cosmic Dust Origins

Press Release • nhsc2011-012 • Thursday, July 7th, 2011

New observations from the infrared Herschel Space Observatory reveal that an exploding star expelled the equivalent of between 160,000 and 230,000 Earth masses of fresh dust. This enormous quantity suggests that exploding stars, called supernovae, are the answer to the long-standing puzzle of what supplied our early universe with dust. More ...

Young Star Shooting Water Bullets

External • nhsc2011-011 • Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Observations with Herschel-HIFI of water in a young Sun-like star reveal high-velocity bullets moving at more than 200,000 kmh from the star. This can be compared to the velocity of a bullet from an AK47 rifle, which is 2500 kmh or 80 times slower. More ...

Ring in the Sky

Feature • nhsc2011-009 • Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Herschel observes in the far-infrared, which allows it to see cold gas and dust between the stars. But many of the greatest discoveries in astronomy have been achieved by combining observations from telescopes observing at different wavelengths. More ...

Herschel Lives Up to the Family Name

External • nhsc2011-008 • Friday, May 13th, 2011

The Herschel Space Observatory has been observing the sky at infrared wavelengths since shortly after its launch two years ago, on 14th May 2009. But the name Herschel has a much longer legacy than that. More ...

Herschel Space Observatory Discovers the Clearing Out of Star-Forming Gas in Mergers of Gas-Rich Galaxies

External • nhsc2011-007 • Monday, May 9th, 2011

Herschel Space Observatory has detected massive amounts of molecular gas gusting at high velocities - in some cases in excess of 1000 kilometers per second - from the centers of a sample of merging galaxies. More ...

Raging Storms Sweep Away Galactic Gas

Press Release • nhsc2011-006 • Monday, May 9th, 2011

Herschel Space Observatory has detected raging winds of molecular gas streaming away from galaxies. More ...

Caught in the Act: Cascading Material Pours onto a Young Star

External • nhsc2011-005 • Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Astronomer Joel Green of The University of Texas at Austin has been following a rare massive flare from a nascent star similar to the early Sun using the European Space Agency's infrared Herschel Space Observatory and a cadre of other telescopes. More ...

Do Cosmic Strings of Gas Come From Sonic Booms?

Press Release • nhsc2011-004 • Thursday, April 14th, 2011

The Herschel Space Observatory has found evidence that tangled filaments in space may be shaped by sonic booms. More ...

Herschel Measures Dark Matter Required For Star-Forming Galaxies

Press Release • nhsc2011-003 • Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

The Herschel Space Observatory has revealed how much dark matter it takes to form a new galaxy bursting with stars. More ...

RAS Honours Outstanding Astronomers and Geophysicists

External • nhsc2011-002 • Friday, January 14th, 2011

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), the UK’s voice for professional astronomers and geophysicists today announced the recipients of the Society’s medals and awards for 2011. The prizes honour individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to astronomy and geophysics and will be given out at the 2011 National Astronomy Meeting to be held in Llandudno, Wales, in April. More ...

Andromeda is So Hot 'n' Cold

Press Release • nhsc2011-001 • Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

This mosaic of the Andromeda spiral galaxy highlights explosive stars in its interior, and cooler, dusty stars forming in its many rings. More ...

Herschel's Hidden Talent: Digging Up Magnified Galaxies

Press Release • nhsc2010-012 • Thursday, November 4th, 2010

It turns out the Herschel Space Observatory has a trick up its sleeve. The telescope, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA contributions, has proven to be excellent at finding magnified, faraway galaxies. More ...

Herschel Finds Water in a Cosmic Desert

Feature • nhsc2010-011 • Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

The Herschel infrared space observatory has discovered that ultraviolet starlight is the key ingredient for making water in space. It is the only explanation for why a dying star is surrounded by a gigantic cloud of hot water vapor. Herschel is a European Space Agency mission with important participation from NASA. More ...

Special Issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics Dedicated to Herschel's First Results

External • nhsc2010-010 • Friday, July 16th, 2010

The first scientific results obtained with Herschel are appearing, this week, in a special issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Based on data collected during the first few months of operations with this ESA observatory, the 152 new publications tackle a multitude of different astrophysical subjects, ranging from nearby Solar System bodies through newly-forming stars in our Galaxy, all the way to very distant galaxies. More ...

Herschel reveals details of distant galaxies and quasars

External • nhsc2010-009 • Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Amazing new data captured by ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory – carrying the largest mirror ever launched into space - have just been publicly released, allowing the World’s astronomers to share in the Herschel SPIRE instrument’s observations of distant galaxies. More ...

Bright Galaxies Like to Stick Together

Feature • nhsc2010-008 • Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Astronomers using the European Space Agency's Herschel telescope have discovered that the brightest galaxies tend to be in the busiest parts of the Universe. This crucial piece of information will enable theorists to fix up their theories of galaxy formation. More ...

Happy First Birthday Herschel and Planck

Feature • nhsc2010-007 • Friday, May 14th, 2010

A year ago today the Herschel and Planck satellite pair lifted off on board an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Now, both spacecraft are busy supplying data to waiting scientists on Earth. More ...

Herschel Finds a Hole in Space

Press Release • nhsc2010-006 • Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

The Herschel Space Observatory has made an unexpected discovery: a gaping hole in the clouds surrounding a batch of young stars. The hole has provided astronomers with a surprising glimpse into the end of the star-forming process. More ...

Herschel Reveals the Hidden Side of Star Birth

Press Release • nhsc2010-005 • Thursday, May 6th, 2010

The first scientific results from ESA's Herschel infrared space observatory are revealing previously hidden details of star formation. New images show thousands of distant galaxies furiously building stars and beautiful star-forming clouds draped across the Milky Way. More ...

Herschel Reveals Ripening Stars Near Rosette Nebula

Press Release • nhsc2010-004 • Monday, April 12th, 2010

The Herschel Space Observatory has uncovered a cosmic garden of budding stars, each expected to grow to 10 times the mass of our sun. More ...

Herschel-HIFI Unveils Precursors of Life-Enabling Molecules in Orion Nebula

Feature • nhsc2010-003 • Thursday, March 4th, 2010

The Herschel Space Observatory has revealed the chemical fingerprints of potential life-enabling organic molecules in the Orion Nebula, a nearby stellar nursery in our Milky Way galaxy. More ...

Herschel Readies Itself for the Orion Nebula

Announcement • nhsc2010-002 • Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

ESA’s Herschel observatory is back to full operation following the reactivation of its HIFI instrument. HIFI, having been offline for 160 days while engineers investigated an unexpected problem in the electronic system, is now perfectly placed to resume its study of forming stars and planets. More ...

UBC Astronomers Unveil Images of 12 Billion Year Old Space Nursery

External • nhsc2010-001 • Thursday, January 7th, 2010

A University of British Columbia astronomer has produced the most detailed images of deep space from 12 billion years ago, using data from the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory. More ...

Inside the Dark Heart of the Eagle

Press Release • nhsc2009-022 • Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Herschel has peered inside an unseen stellar nursery and revealed surprising amounts of activity. Some 700 newly-forming stars are estimated to be crowded into filaments of dust stretching through the image. More ...

Herschel's Splendid Spectra

Press Release • nhsc2009-021 • Friday, November 27th, 2009

Herschel spectroscopy takes center stage today as new spectra, obtained with the SPIRE, PACS and HIFI instruments during the performance verification phase, are released by ESA and the instrument teams. More ...

Herschel's Multi-Hued View of the Sky

Feature • nhsc2009-020 • Friday, October 2nd, 2009

A new image from the Herschel Space Observatory shows off the observatory's talents for seeing multiple wavelengths of light. The infrared observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important participation from NASA, can use two science instruments simultaneously to see five different "colors" of infrared, which is light that we can't see with our eyes. More ...

HIFI Status Update

Announcement • nhsc2009-019 • Friday, September 4th, 2009

On August 3, 2009, Herschel's Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared, or HIFI, was switched off temporarily after an anomaly was registered. More ...

Herschel Space Observatory Status Update

Announcement • nhsc2009-018 • Monday, August 17th, 2009

Engineers and scientists are continuing to characterize the performance of the Herschel Space Observatory, following its successful launch on May 14, 2009. More ...

Herschel Instruments Get First Peek at Cosmos

Feature • nhsc2009-017 • Friday, July 10th, 2009

All three of Herschel's instruments have now opened their eyes and collected their first astronomy data. More ...

Herschel Opens Its Infrared Eyes

Feature • nhsc2009-016 • Friday, June 26th, 2009

The Herschel Space Observatory has snapped its first picture since blasting into space on May 14, 2009. The mission, led by the European Space Agency with important participation from NASA, will use infrared light to explore our cosmic roots, addressing questions of how stars and galaxies are born. More ...

Herschel's Cover Flips Open

Announcement • nhsc2009-015 • Monday, June 15th, 2009

The Herschel observatory has flipped its lid — the cover protecting the telescope's instruments was successfully removed on June 14, 2009, at 2:54 a.m. Pacific Time. More ...

Herschel Status Update

Announcement • nhsc2009-014 • Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Herschel is approaching its final orbit around the 2nd Earth-sun Lagrange point (L2), a point in space 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth on the side away from the sun. More ...

Herschel and Planck Commissioning has Begun

Press Release • nhsc2009-013 • Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

After a perfect injection by the Ariane 5 launcher on 14 May, the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) for Herschel and Planck has started to wind down, while commissioning of the scientific instruments and subsystems on both spacecraft has begun. More ...

Herschel and Planck on Way to Study Our Cosmic Roots

Press Release • nhsc2009-012 • Thursday, May 14th, 2009

The Herschel and Planck spacecraft successfully blasted into space at 6:12 a.m. Pacific Time (9:12 a.m. Eastern Time) on May 14 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. More ...

Herschel and Planck Launcher at Launch Pad

Feature • nhsc2009-011 • Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

At around 13:40 CEST today, 8:40 at the launch site in Kourou, the Ariane 5 carrying Herschel and Planck rolled out onto the launch pad from its earlier location in the final assembly building under blue skies complete with puffy clouds. More ...

Herschel and Planck Almost Ready for Liftoff

Feature • nhsc2009-010 • Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Two missions to study our cosmic roots, Herschel and Planck, are stacked atop the same Ariane 5 rocket, waiting to blast into space. More ...

Michigan Astronomer to Search in Space for Precursors of Life

External • nhsc2009-009 • Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Many of the organic molecules that make up life on Earth have also been found in space. A University of Michigan astronomer will use the Herschel Space Observatory to study these chemical compounds in new detail in the warm clouds of gas and dust around young stars. More ...

Herschel and Planck Share Ride to Space

Press Release • nhsc2009-008 • Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Two missions to study the cosmos, Herschel and Planck, are scheduled to blast into space May 14 aboard the same Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. More ...

ESA: Herschel and Planck to lift off on 14 May

Press Release • nhsc2009-007 • Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Now that additional checks on the Ariane 5 ECA launcher have been completed, Arianespace and ESA have set the launch date of Herschel and Planck for Thursday 14 May. More ...

ESA: Herschel and Planck Launch Postponed

Press Release • nhsc2009-006 • Monday, April 20th, 2009

Due to an anomaly discovered during tests on a subassembly identical to the one on the Ariane 5 launcher, Arianespace has decided to carry out additional checks which will take a few days. More ...

ESA: Herschel and Planck to Lift Off on May 6th

Press Release • nhsc2009-005 • Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

With the additional checks related to the flight worthiness of the Herschel telescope now completed, ESA and Arianespace have set the launch date of Herschel and Planck for 6 May 2009. More ...

ESA: Launch Campaign Teams Take Time Out to Record a Special Moment

Feature • nhsc2009-004 • Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

As the launch date for Herschel and Planck approaches the launch campaign teams, who are busy preparing both spacecraft for this momentous event, have taken time out for a group photograph. More ...

ESA: Herschel and Planck Get Green Light for Launch Campaign

Press Release • nhsc2009-002 • Monday, February 9th, 2009

ESA's Herschel and Planck missions have successfully completed their test campaigns in Europe and will be soon transported to Europe's spaceport at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guyana. More ...

ESA: International Year of Astronomy 2009 Officially Launched

Feature • nhsc2009-001 • Friday, January 16th, 2009

A thrilling launch to the International Year of Astronomy is taking place at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Headquarters in Paris on 15 and 16 January 2009. More ...

ESA: Herschel and Planck Ground Segments Pass Important Milestone

Feature • nhsc2008-001 • Thursday, November 27th, 2008

The Herschel and Planck ground segments have successfully passed another milestone on the path to launch. More ...

ESA: Herschel's Cryostat and Service Module Mated

Feature • nhsc2007-001 • Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Two of the satellite's most fundamental modules, its 'heart' and 'brain', have now been mated. More ...

ESA: Herschel Mirror on the Move

Feature • nhsc2004-002 • Tuesday, July 6th, 2004

The Herschel telescope primary mirror blank has now been machined to its final shape and thickness. More ...

ESA: Herschel Primary Mirror Fabrication

Feature • nhsc2004-001 • Wednesday, February 18th, 2004

Unlike conventional reflecting telescopes, whose mirrors are made from special glass or sometimes metal, Herschel's telescope mirrors are being made from a novel ceramic material. More ...

ESA: Space Infrared Astronomy Comes of Age

Feature • nhsc2003-002 • Wednesday, April 16th, 2003

It is 20 years ago this year that Europe, in collaboration with the United States, launched the first infrared observatory into space. More ...

ESA: Who Knows How Many Stars There Are?

Feature • nhsc2003-001 • Friday, February 28th, 2003

Have you ever, at some stage of your life, looked up into the night sky and wondered just how many stars there are in space? More ...

ESA: The First Giant Space Telescope will be Entirely European

Press Release • nhsc2001-003 • Monday, October 15th, 2001

Giant telescopes with primary mirrors of 8 metres in diameter are now common on the ground, but it will take a while before they can jump into space. More ...

ESA: Prime Contractor Selected for ESA's Herschel and Planck Space Satellites

Feature • nhsc2001-001 • Tuesday, March 20th, 2001

On 14 March, in Paris, ESA's Industrial Policy Committee approved the awarding of the main contract for the manufacture of the Herschel and Planck scientific satellites. More ...

ESA: The Newly Named 'Herschel Space Observatory' Revisits its Science Goals

Press Release • nhsc2000-004 • Friday, December 22nd, 2000

In science, new answers often trigger new questions. And in astronomy, new questions often mean new instruments. More ...

ESA: 'Who' Contributes More to the 'Energy Budget' of the Universe?

Press Release • nhsc2000-002 • Thursday, December 14th, 2000

ESA's 'Herschel Space Observatory' will find out the nature of the first galaxies More ...

ESA: FIRST Space Telescope to be Re-named 'Herschel Space Observatory'

Feature • nhsc2000-001 • Tuesday, December 12th, 2000

On the 200th anniversary of the discovery of infrared light by William Herschel, ESA's Far Infrared and Submillimetre Telescope, FIRST, will be re-named the 'Herschel Space Observatory'. More ...

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