Herschel Space Observatory

The Herschel Space Observatory is a space observatory that was carried into orbit in May 2009. It was originally proposed in 1982 by a consortium of European scientists. The mission is named after Sir William Herschel, the discoverer of the infrared spectrum and planet Uranus.

Herschel can see the coldest and dustiest objects in space; for example, cool cocoons where stars form and dusty galaxies just starting to bulk up with new stars. The observatory will sift through star-forming clouds—the "slow cookers" of star ingredients—to trace the path by which potentially life-forming molecules, such as water, form.

Herschel is a European Space Agency mission with significant participation from NASA. It is the fourth 'cornerstone' mission in the ESA science program. NASA played a key role in the development of two of the mission's three instruments. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., developed and built the "spider web" bolometers for Herschel's spectral and photometric imaging receiver (SPIRE) instrument, which are 40 times more sensitive than previous versions. It also developed and built mixers, local oscillator chains and power amplifiers for the heterodyne instrument for the far infrared (HIFI).

Herschel Space Observatory