Previous Results:

The Eagle Nebula

17/01/2012

Herschel has captured a view of star formation in and around the iconic "Pillars of Creation"

Large Magellanic Cloud

11/01/2012

The Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellte galaxy of our own Milky Way, has been mapped by the Herschel and Spitzer infrared space telescopes

Small Magellanic Cloud

11/01/2012

The Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way, has been mapped byt the Herschel and Spitzer infrared space telescopes

TW Hydrae

21/10/2011

HIFI has detected the presence of much cold water vapour around a young star, shedding light on the role of water in the formation of planets.

Comet Hartley 2 and the Oceans of Earth

05/10/2011

Herschel measurements of Comet Hartley 2 have added to evidence that comets could have been the source of the Earth's water

Galactic Plane: Centaurus

21/09/2011

A swathe of the Galactic Plane as seen by Herschel, making up part of the Galactic Plane Survey

Dust rings around CW Leonis

20/09/2011

Dusty rings have been seen around the massive star CW Leonis, suggesting that the star has been shedding its outer layers for thousands of years

GOODS-South

13/09/2011

Herschel has shown that the most distant galaxies observed by Herschel were not different from local galaxies as astronomer expected.

Oxygen in the Orion Nebula

01/08/2011

Herschel has discovered molecular oxygen in space for the first time, deep in the heart of the Orion Nebula.

Enceladus

26/07/2011

Herschel has discovered that water spewing from Saturn's moon, Enceladus, is raining down into the upper atmosphere of the ringed planet.

A Twisted ring in the Galactic Centre

20/07/2011

Herschel has taken images of a ring of gas and dust at the heart of our Galaxy, which is twisted for reasons yet to be explained.

Supernova 1987a

07/07/2011

Herschel measurements of Supernova 1987a have detected large amounts of cosmic dust, adding weight to the theory that dust is formed in these cosmic fireworks.

Uranus

12/05/2011

The planet Uranus, as seen by the SPIRE instrument on board Herschel

Interstellar Cloud IC5246

13/04/2011

The region around the Cocoon Nebula contains a network of filaments of gas and dust.

Polaris Flare

13/04/2011

The Polaris Flare is a network of dusty filaments in the same area of sky as the star Polaris.

Dark Matter Halos

16/02/2011

Astronomers have used Herschel to reveal just how much dark matter it takes to give rise to a galaxy bursting with stars. The findings are a key step in understanding how dark matter contributed to the birth of massive galaxies in the early Universe.

Andromeda Galaxy

05/01/2011

Herschel has combined forces with ESA's XMM-Newton x-ray satellite to image the Andromeda Galaxy.

Comet Hartley 2

20/11/2010

Herschel observed comet Hartley 2 for 25 days around the time of the flyby of NASA's Deep Impact probe on 4th November 2010

Herschel-ATLAS Gravitational Lenses

04/11/2010

The first data from the Herschel-ATLAS survey has revealed gravitational lenses - with remarkable efficiency.

CW Leonis

01/09/2010

The red giant carbon star CW Leonis has been found to have water forming in the warm regions surrounding it - where it was previously thought to be impossible.

Abell 2218

01/07/2010

The gravitational effect of a massive cluster of galaxies mends light to allow Herschel to see distant galaxies as they were over 10 billion years ago.

The Lockman Hole

26/05/2010

When observed by Herschel, a small patch of sky in Ursa Major reveals thousands of distant galaxies

NGC1999 - A hole in space

11/05/2010

Herschel has looked at a dark nebula, expecting to find a cloud of cold gas and dust. Instead, it has found that it is a hole in the nebula, excavated by the strong radiation from a nearby star.

RCW120

06/05/2010

A massive star in the process of forming has been spotted by Herschel - and could end up being one of the biggest and brightest in our Galaxy

Galactic Plane - Vulpecula

06/05/2010

A portion of the Galactic Plane, showing stars forming along filaments

Galactic Plane - Aquila

06/05/2010

A portion of the Galactic Plane, showing stars blowing bubbles in the interstellar medium.

The Rosette Nebula

12/04/2010

This image from SPIRE and PACS shows star formation in the Rosette Nebula

Complex molecules in the Orion Nebula

04/03/2010

The HIFI spectrometer on board Herschel has detected the presence of complex molecules in regions of the Orion Nebula.

Young stars in the Eagle's Nest

16/12/2009

Observations of a region in the disc of our Galaxy, in the constellation of Aquila the Eagle, have revealed hundreds of stars in the process of forming.

GOODS-North

14/12/2009

Herschel has imaged a regions of sky containing thousands of distant galaxies. Some are seen as they were 10 billion years ago

Spectrum of massive star VY Canis Majoris

27/11/2009

Spectroscopy of the largest known star in our Galaxy, VY Canis Majoris, has shown the presence of water in its outer atmosphere.

Messier 82

27/11/2009

The galaxy Messier 82 is suffering a bout of star formation, fuelled by its close interaction with its close neighbour Messier 81. Herschel has uncovered the nature of its gas

The Southern Cross

02/10/2009

The SPIRE and PACS instruments have worked in parallel to observe an area of sky in the far-infrared over the wavelength range of 70-500 microns.

Spiral Galaxy M74

10/07/2009

The spiral galaxy M74 was one of the first galaxies imaged by SPIRE. As well as the galaxy itself, many much more distant background galaxies can be seen.

Spiral Galaxy M66

10/07/2009

The spiral galaxy M66 was one of the first galaxies to be imaged by the SPIRE instrument on Herschel.

Whirlpool Galaxy

19/06/2009

The first image aver taken by Herschel, this image of the nearby spiral Galaxy called "M51" shows the power of the Herschel telescope