NASA Herschel Science Center's Portal to the Cool Universe

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 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 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: 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: 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: 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 ...

Image Use Policy | Privacy Policy

National Aeronautics and Space Administration