Herschel’s cameras combine to show the galaxy in a new light

Herschel's cameras combine to show the galaxy in a new light. Stunning new images from ESA space observatory %0A " - Press release issued by the Science and Technology Facilities Council - Friday 2 October 2009 The Herschel Space Observatory has produced spectacular new images of interstellar material in our galaxy, using the UK-led SPIRE camera in tandem with Herschel's other camera, PACS. Physicists from Imperial College London played a key role in conceiving, designing and developing the SPIRE instrument over the last 20 years, and more recently have been instrumental in developing the software to convert masses of raw data from space into the pictures released by the European Space Agency today. The new pictures, made during the first trial run with the two instruments operating at the same time, have unveiled a small part of our Milky Way Galaxy as we have never seen it before, and bode well for one of Herschel's main scientific projects, which is to survey large areas of the galaxy. Dr David Clements from the SPIRE team at Imperial College London's Department of Physics said: "These images show SPIRE and PACS working together in perfect harmony, something that will be needed not only for studies of our own galaxy but also for Herschel's large UK-led studies of galaxy evolution. It also demonstrates the UK's instrumentation expertise for future far-IR space missions." A five-colour composite image of an area of the Milky Way, taken by the SPIRE and PACS instruments Professor Keith Mason, Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which provides the UK funding for Herschel, added: "SPIRE has produced some spectacular new images.