News | Herschel Space Observatory

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NASA, ESA Reveal Tale of Death, Dust in Orion Constellation

News Release • November 22, 2022

In a tale of cosmic proportions, the region is being transformed by the massive stars that live and die within it.

New Images Using Data From Retired Telescopes Reveal Hidden Features

News Release • June 16, 2022

New images using data from ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA missions showcase the dust that fills the space between stars in four of the galaxies closest to our own Milky Way. More than striking, the snapshots are also a scientific trove, lending insight into how dramatically the density of dust clouds can vary within a galaxy.

Long-awaited review reveals journey of water from interstellar clouds to habitable worlds

News Release • April 9, 2021

Dutch astronomer Ewine van Dishoeck (Leiden University, the Netherlands), together with an international team of colleagues, has written an overview of everything we know about water in interstellar clouds thanks to the Herschel space observatory.

Multi-Wavelength View of a Supernova Remnant

News Release • January 7, 2019

New Year's Eve may be past, but we are not done with fireworks just yet. This image, which includes data from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, shows the remnants of an explosion – not of the colorful type ignited during celebrations, but of the stellar kind.

Science Data, Discoveries and People: Legacy of the Herschel Space Observatory

News Release • September 21, 2017

The Herschel mission, a trailblazing space observatory that provided a unique view of our cosmos during its almost four years of operations, leaves a legacy of treasured data, thousands of scientific papers, as well as a new generation of astronomers who cut their professional teeth on this remarkable endeavour.

Herschel's Chronicles of Galaxy Evolution

News Release • September 20, 2017

Delving deep into the history of our cosmos, the Herschel Space Observatory scrutinised hundreds of thousands of star-forming galaxies, peering back in time to when the Universe was less than one billion years old. These observations probed the peak epoch of stellar production, about ten billion years ago, when galaxies were forming stars roughly ten times faster than their present counterparts.

The Cosmic Water Trail Uncovered by Herschel

News Release • September 19, 2017

During almost four years of observing the cosmos, the Herschel Space Observatory traced out the presence of water. With its unprecedented sensitivity and spectral resolution at key wavelengths, Herschel revealed this crucial molecule in star-forming molecular clouds, detected it for the first time in the seeds of future stars and planets, and identified the delivery of water from interplanetary debris to planets in our Solar System.

How Herschel Unlocked the Secrets of Star Formation

News Release • September 18, 2017

Surveying the sky for almost four years to observe the glow of cold cosmic dust embedded in interstellar clouds of gas, the Herschel Space Observatory has provided astronomers with an unprecedented glimpse into the stellar cradles of our Galaxy. As a result, giant strides have been taken in our understanding of the physical processes that lead to the birth of stars and their planetary systems.

New Catalogues for Herschel Legacy Archive

News Release • June 20, 2017

Two new catalogues, based on data from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, have been released to the scientific community. The point source catalogues are examples of a new type of data product from two of Herschel’s instruments, SPIRE and PACS.

Building Blocks of Life's Building Blocks Come From Starlight

Feature • October 12, 2016

Life exists in a myriad of wondrous forms, but if you break any organism down to its most basic parts, it's all the same stuff: carbon atoms connected to hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. But how these fundamental substances are created in space has been a longstanding mystery.

NASA Team Probes Peculiar Age-Defying Star

Feature • August 29, 2016

For years, astronomers have puzzled over a massive star lodged deep in the Milky Way that shows conflicting signs of being extremely old and extremely young. Researchers initially classified the star as elderly, perhaps a red supergiant. But a new study by a NASA-led team of researchers suggests that the object, labeled IRAS 19312+1950, might be something quite different -- a protostar, a star still in the making.

New Herschel Maps and Catalogues Reveal Stellar Nurseries Across the Galactic Plane

News Release • April 22, 2016

ESA's Herschel mission releases today a series of unprecedented maps of star-forming hubs in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. This is accompanied by a set of catalogues listing hundreds of thousands of compact sources that span all phases leading to the birth of stars in our Galaxy.

Herschel and Planck Honored with Space Systems Award

Feature • September 3, 2015

The Herschel and Planck project teams are this year's recipients of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Systems Award.

Our Sun Came Late to the Milky Way's Star-Birth Party

Feature • April 9, 2015

Our Sun missed the stellar "baby boom" that erupted in our young Milky Way galaxy 10 billion years ago. During that time the Milky Way was churning out stars 30 times faster than it does today. Our galaxy was ablaze with a firestorm of star birth as its rich reservoir of hydrogen gas compressed under gravity, creating myriad stars. But our Sun was not one of them. It was a late "boomer," arising 5 billion years later, when star birth had plunged to a trickle.

A Gold Mine of Galaxy Nuggets

Feature • March 31, 2015

Astronomers mine data from the Planck and Herschel missions to find a treasure chest of galaxy clusters.

Suzaku, Herschel Link a Black Hole 'Wind' to a Galactic Gush of Star-forming Gas

News Release • March 25, 2015

By combining observations from the Japan-led Suzaku X-ray satellite and the European Space Agency's infrared Herschel Space Observatory, scientists have connected a fierce "wind" produced near a galaxy's monster black hole to an outward torrent of cold gas a thousand light-years across.

Herschel’s view of the early Universe reveals galaxy cluster fireworks

News Release • December 18, 2014

Astronomers using ESA’s Herschel space observatory have found, for the first time, fireworks of star birth within galaxies at the dense core of a massive early Universe galaxy cluster. This frenzy of star formation reveals the young lives of now “red and dead” elliptical galaxies and gives new clues to the evolution of some of the largest structures in the Universe.

Warm Gas Pours 'Cold Water' on Galaxy's Star-Making

Feature • December 5, 2014

One galaxy devoured remnants of another galaxy, quenching the formation of new stars.

Slow-Growing Galaxies Offer Window to Early Universe

Feature • October 15, 2014

What makes one rose bush blossom with flowers, while another remains barren? Astronomers ask a similar question of galaxies, wondering how some flourish with star formation and others barely bloom.

NASA Telescopes Uncover Early Construction of Giant Galaxy

News Release • August 27, 2014

Astronomers have for the first time caught a glimpse of the earliest stages of massive galaxy construction. The building site, dubbed "Sparky," is a dense galactic core blazing with the light of millions of newborn stars that are forming at a ferocious rate.

Young Sun’s Violent History Solves Meteorite Mystery

Feature • July 1, 2014

Astronomers using ESA’s Herschel space observatory to probe the turbulent beginnings of a Sun-like star have found evidence of mighty stellar winds that could solve a puzzling meteorite mystery in our own back yard.

New Molecules Around Old Stars

External • June 17, 2014

Astronomers have discovered that a molecule vital for creating water exists in the burning embers of dying Sun-like stars. When low- to middleweight stars like our Sun approach the end of their lives, they eventually become dense, white dwarf stars. In doing so, they cast off their outer layers of dust and gas into space, creating a kaleidoscope of intricate patterns known as planetary nebulas.

Herschel Sees Budding Stars and a Giant, Strange Ring

News Release • June 12, 2014

The Herschel Space Observatory has uncovered a weird ring of dusty material while obtaining one of the sharpest scans to date of a huge cloud of gas and dust, called NGC 7538. The observations have revealed numerous clumps of material, a baker's dozen of which may evolve into the most powerful kinds of stars in the universe.

Herschel Uncovers a Dearth of Oxygen near a New Star

Feature • June 9, 2014

A cosmic mystery regarding oxygen has deepened, thanks to new findings from the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA contributions. Observations of a newly forming star have revealed strangely low levels of molecular oxygen, the kind we breathe, in the emerging star's gassy, dusty environment.

Well-behaved, Young Galaxy Surprises Astronomers

Feature • April 29, 2014

Scientists have discovered a young galaxy acting in unexpectedly mature ways.

Herschel Completes Largest Survey of Cosmic Dust in Local Universe

News Release • March 18, 2014

The largest census of dust in local galaxies has been completed using data from the Herschel space observatory, providing a huge legacy to the scientific community.

Bullying Black Holes Force Galaxies to Stay Red and Dead

News Release • February 25, 2014

Herschel has discovered massive elliptical galaxies in the nearby Universe containing plenty of cold gas, even though the galaxies fail to produce new stars.

Herschel Telescope Detects Water on Dwarf Planet

News Release • January 22, 2014

Scientists using the Herschel space observatory have made the first definitive detection of water vapor on the largest and roundest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres.

NASA and ESA Telescopes Help Solve Mystery of Ultra-Compact, Burned-Out Galaxies

News Release • January 22, 2014

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, Europe's Herschel Space Observatory, and many ground-based telescopes have pieced together the evolutionary sequence of compact elliptical galaxies that erupted and burned out early in the history of the universe.

The Rise and Fall of Galactic Cities

Feature • December 18, 2013

How and when galactic metropolises cease their opulent ways is the subject of new research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

Chemical Surprise Found in Crab Nebula

Feature • December 12, 2013

A 'loner' gas called Argon has paired up to make molecules in the tattered remains of an exploded star.

Long-Sought Pattern of Ancient Light Detected

Feature • October 21, 2013

A twisted pattern of ancient light called B-modes has at last been detected with help from the Herschel space observatory.

SPIRE Instrument Wins Sir Arthur Clarke Award

External • July 18, 2013

The team behind Herschel's SPIRE instrument has been awarded the 2013 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for academic study and research. The award is in recognition of the scientific achievements of the SPIRE instrument, which was designed, built and operated by an international team of astronomers, scientists and engineers.

Seeing Snow in Space

External • July 18, 2013

Although it might seem counterintuitive, if you get far enough away from a smoldering young star, you can actually find snow lines—frosty regions where gases are able to freeze and coat dust grains. Astronomers believe that these snow lines are critical to the process of planet formation.

Shining a Light on Cool Pools of Gas in the Galaxy

News Release • June 11, 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.

Herschel Space Observatory Finds Galaxy Mega Merger

News Release • May 22, 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.

Milky Way Black Hole Snacks on Hot Gas

Feature • May 7, 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.

Herschel Completes Its 'Cool' Journey In Space

News Release • April 29, 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.

Herschel Links Water Around Jupiter to Comet Impact

Feature • April 23, 2013

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

Astronomers Discover Massive Star Factory in Early Universe

Feature • April 17, 2013

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

Retired Star Found with Planets and Debris Disk

Feature • April 9, 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

Hunting Massive Stars with Herschel

Feature • March 28, 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.

Herschel Discovers Some of the Youngest Stars Ever Seen

News Release • March 19, 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.

Herschel to Complete Its Mission Soon

News Release • March 5, 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.

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

Feature • February 20, 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.

Black Holes and Star Formation: A Herschel Perspective

News Release • February 13, 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.

Herschel Finds Star Past its Prime Possibly Making Planets

News Release • January 30, 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.

Cool, New Views of Andromeda Galaxy

Feature • January 28, 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.

Betelgeuse Star Braces for Crash with Strange Bar

Feature • January 22, 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.