Herschel+telescope

THE HERSCHEL TELESCOPE

The billion-euro telescope launched on the 14th of may 2009 by the Europeans was sent for 4 reasons: • Study the formation of galaxies in the early universe and their subsequent evolution • Investigate the creation of stars and their interaction with space. • Observe the chemical composition of the atmospheres • Examine the molecular chemistry of the universe Since the launch, the telescope has reached a major milestone and has finally opened the hatch that was covering all its reading instruments. One of these was a massive telescope able of taking pictures of galaxies many light-years away. The telescope is able of probing clouds of gas and observing stars being born, it is also capable of detecting and analyzing how galaxies evolve. Recently, scientists were surprised to receive data from the telescope containing a stunning picture of the Galaxy M51, resembling a whirlpool. This early present from the telescope was said to be one of the clearest pictures taken by a telescope yet and took science and its men by surprise. The vessel launched by Ariane 5 is still continuing its 1.5 million kilometer journey and is said to be almost 90% of the way there.