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Herschel Space Observatory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the future ESA space telescope. For the telescope on the Canary Islands, see William Herschel Telescope
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| Organization | ESA |
|---|---|
| Wavelength regime | infrared: 60 to 670 µm |
| Orbit height | 1.5×106km from Earth (L2 Lagrangian point) |
| Orbit period | 1 year |
| Launch date | February 2008 (delayed from July 2007) |
| Deorbit date | (2010 - 2011) |
| Mass | 3,300kg |
| Other names | Far Infrared and Submillimetre Telescope (FIRST) |
| Webpage | http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120390_index_0_m.html |
| Physical Characteristics | |
| Telescope Style | Cassegrain reflector |
| Primary Reflector Diameter | 3500 mm, f/0.5 |
| Collecting Area | 9.6m2 |
| Focal Length | 27000 mm |
| Instruments | |
| HIFI | Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared |
| PACS | Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer |
| SPIRE | Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver |
The Herschel Space Observatory is a mission of the European Space Agency. It is to be launched in 2008 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket together with Planck and will enter a 700 000 km diameter Lissajous orbit around the second Lagrangian point of the Earth-Sun system, 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth.
The mission was formerly titled the Far Infrared and Sub-millimetre Telescope (or FIRST). It will be the first space observatory to cover the full far infrared and submillimetre waveband, and its telescope will have the largest mirror ever deployed in space (three and a half metres wide). It will specialise in collecting light from distant and poorly known objects, such as newborn galaxies billions of light-years away. The light will be focused onto three instruments with detectors kept at temperatures below 2 K.[citation needed]
Mission objectives:
- To study the formation of galaxies in the early universe and their subsequent evolution.
- To investigate the creation of stars and their interaction with the interstellar medium
- To observe the chemical composition of the atmospheres and surfaces of comets, planets and satellites
- To examine the molecular chemistry of the universe
The mission is named after Sir William Herschel, who discovered the infrared spectrum.
- Harwit M.. "The Herschel mission". Advances in Space Research 34 (3): 568-572. DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2003.03.026.
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