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HERSCHEL
Exploring the formation of galaxies and stars
Découvrir la formation des galaxies et des étoiles
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Elapsed time since launch on 14 May 2009 at 13:12 (UTC).
Welcome to the Herschel Astronomers' website provided by the Herschel Science Centre (HSC) primarily for the scientific community. For additional ESA and external Herschel related websites see link buttons above and "Useful links".
Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009!
It is the fourth `cornerstone' mission in the ESA science programme. With a 3.5 m Cassegrain telescope it is the largest space telescope ever launched. It is performing photometry and spectroscopy in approximately the 55-671 µm range, bridging the gap between earlier infrared space missions and groundbased facilities.
Herschel has been designed to observe the `cool universe'; it is observing the structure formation in the early universe, resolving the far infrared cosmic background, revealing cosmologically evolving AGN/starburst symbiosis and galaxy evolution at the epochs when most stars in the universe were formed, unveiling the physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium and its molecular clouds, the wombs of the stars, and unravelling the mechanisms governing the formation of and evolution of stars and their planetary systems, including our own solar system, putting it into context. In short, Herschel is opening a new window to study how the universe has evolved to become the universe we see today, and how our star the sun, our planet the earth, and we ourselves fit in. For abstracts of accepted Herschel observing programmes see "Key Programmes", "GT1 Programmes", "OT1 Programmes" and "GT2 Programmes".
Herschel is operated as an observatory facility. It is available to the worldwide scientific community, roughly two thirds of the observing time is 'open time' allocated through standard competitive calls for observing proposals.
News and highlights:
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Herschel lifetime assessment. As part of the preparations for the AO OT2 time allocation process a reassessment of the predicted Herschel lifetime using all available information has been conducted. The conclusion is that the period February/March 2013 is the most likely time for when Herschel will run out of helium, precluding any further observing (there is no "warm" Herschel mission). For the implications and latest update on the AO OT2 time allocation see AO Latest News.
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ESA webreleases disseminate Herschel science results.
Recently a number of papers on Herschel science results published in a variety of journals have been the subject of ESA webreleases, see the HSC Latest News for more information and links.
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Herschel OSHI app for iPhone has been released.
The 'Online Showcase of Herschel Images' (OSHI) is a website providing Herschel images for viewing and downloading, with information about what they show and some metadata.
Now the OSHI app for iPhone (and iPod touch and iPad) has been released and is available from your local iTunes app store for free.
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Herschel and XMM-Newton join forces observing M31! Herschel and XMM-Newton have been featured in the BBC Stargazing Live show joining forces observing M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. See the HSC Latest News
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Herschel A&A special feature issue published.
The Astronomy & Astrophysics special feature 'Herschel: the first science highlights' has been published on 16 July 2010 as vol. 518 (July-August 2010). The issue contains 152 papers, and all are freely accessible online.
See also the associated SciTech article and A&A press release.
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Herschel First Results Symposium.
The Herschel First Results Symposium (aka ESLAB 2010) was held on 4-7 May 2010 in the ESTEC Conference Centre. Over 400 astronomers attended the meeting which provided a wealth of exciting results.
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Herschel science demonstration events. In the week 14-18 December 2009 three major events took place: the SDP data processing workshop, a press event, and the SDP Initial Results workshop.
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Herschel views the sky! As part of the commissioning activities Herschel has viewed the sky with spectacular results! See the 'sneak preview', 'first light', 'first SPIRE/PACS parallel mode' and 'spectroscopy galore' webreleases. Always check the progress on Latest News and the HSC Operations (B)Log.
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Herschel cryocover opened on 14 June 2009! The Herschel cryostat lid (the cryocover) was commanded open on 14 June 2009, precisely one month after the launch. Follow the progress on "Latest News" and the "HSC Operations (B)Log".
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Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009! The Herschel launch campaign was brought to an end by a flawless launch into the sky above Kourou. The Ariane 5 ECA launcher disappeared from sight after just a couple of minutes, and Herschel was later released into its desired transfer trajectory 26 minutes after liftoff. Follow the progress on "Latest News" and the "HSC Operations (B)Log".
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