 A remarkable view of our Galaxy has been obtained by Europe's billion-euro Herschel Space Observatory.
The telescope was put in a special scanning mode to map a patch of sky.
The images reveal in exquisite detail the dense, contorted clouds of cold gas that are collapsing in on themselves to form new stars.
Herschel, which has the largest mirror ever put on an orbiting telescope, was launched in May as a flagship mission of the European Space Agency.
It is tuned to see far-infrared wavelengths of light and is expected to give astronomers significant insights into some of the fundamental processes
that shape the cosmos.
Herschel's great advantage is that its sensitivity allows it to see things that are beyond the vision of other space telescopes, such as Hubble.
A prime goal is to understand the mechanisms that control the earliest phases of stellar evolution. Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
Waiting for ESA to release more photos
Thanks
Ocker
[edit on 2/10/2009 by ocker]
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Reservoir of cold gas in the constellation of the Southern Cross
2 October 2009
Herschel has delivered spectacular vistas of cold gas clouds lying near the plane of the Milky Way, revealing intense, unexpected activity. The dark,
cool region is dotted with stellar factories, like pearls on a cosmic string.
On 3 September, Herschel aimed its telescope at a reservoir of cold gas in the constellation of the Southern Cross near the Galactic Plane. As the
telescope scanned the sky, the spacecraft’s Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver, SPIRE, and Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer, PACS
instruments snapped the pictures. The region is located about 60° from the Galactic Centre, thousands of light-years from Earth.
www.esa.int...
Description
Three-colour far-infrared image of M51, the ‘whirlpool galaxy’.
Red, green and blue correspond to the 160-micron, 100-micron and 70-micron wavelength bands of the Herschel’s Photoconductor Array Camera and
Spectrometer, PACS.
Glowing light from clouds of dust and gas around and between the stars is visible clearly. These clouds are a reservoir of raw material for
ongoing star formation in this galaxy. Blue indicates regions of warm dust that is heated by young stars, while the colder dust shows up in
red.
www.esa.int...
Herschel is set to revolutionise our understanding of the Universe. A versatile infrared space telescope, Herschel's main objective is to study
relatively cool objects across the Universe; in particular, the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies and the relationship between the
two.
www.esa.int...
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