Currently, sci.esa.int is under review and not being updated. For the latest information and news from ESA science missions and scientific results, please visit esa.int. For a comprehensive overview of ESA’s Science Programme and its missions, please refer to science.esa.int. For in-depth technical information aimed at ESA's scientific communities, you may also wish to consult cosmos.esa.int.

Asset Publisher

Back Herschel Mission Logo

Herschel Mission Logo


Date: 10 September 2004
Copyright: ESA

The European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory (formerly called Far Infrared and Sub-millimetre Telescope or FIRST) will be the first example of a new generation of space telescopes. It will be the first space observatory covering the full far infrared and sub-millimetre waveband, and its telescope will have the largest mirror ever deployed in space. It will be located 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth at the second Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system. Herschel's three and a half metre mirror will collect the light from distant and poorly known objects, such as newborn galaxies thousands of millions of light-years away, and will focus it onto three instruments with detectors kept at temperatures close to absolute zero.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
25-Jan-2026 05:36 UT

ShortUrl Portlet

Shortcut URL

https://sci.esa.int/s/APZQK2W

Latest Selection

Also Available As

No other resolutions available.

Related Images

Related Videos

Related Publications

Related Links

See Also

Documentation