Jun 22, 2009

Herschel Infrared Space Telescope Opens It's Eyes!

The largest Infrared telescope ever flown into outer space opened it's "eyes" on June 14th. The first object to be imaged by the Herschel's cameras is M51, the first spiral galaxy seen by Charles Messier in 1773.

The image above is a very preliminary image, taken just to show the intense resolution capabilities of this telescope's infrared astronomy capabilities. Blue indicates regions of warm dust that is heated by young stars, while the colder dust shows up in red. The image above was taken at three different infrared exposure levels, 70, 100, and 160 microns. Once the Herschel Space Observatory is fully commissioned, the incredible images will just begin to pour forth.
-FUPPETS- will be ready.
Here is an image of the Herschel Space Observatory after completion.

1 comment:

sozavac said...

so this M51 was first seen in 1773 and 236 years later we're taking a picture of it. how about trying something new?