Basic Information What is this? A region of the Orion Nebula, where molecular oxygen has been found in space for the first time Where is it in the sky? In the centre of the constellation of Orion How big is it? The Orion Nebua is 20 light years across, but HIFI only looked at a …
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Enceladus
Basic Information What is this? Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons Where is it in the sky? Saturn orbits the Sun once every 30 years. How big is it? Enceladus is around 500 km in diameter How far away is it? Saturn orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.5 billion km, and Enceladus orbits Saturn …
A Twisted ring in the Galactic Centre
Basic Information What is this? The central regions of our Galaxy, containing a ring of gas and dust Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Sagittarius How big is it? The ring, seen in yellow, is around 600 light years across How far away is it? The centre of our Galaxy is …
Uranus
Basic Information What is this? The planet Uranus Where is it in the sky? Uranus moves around the sky as both it and the Earth orbit the Sun, but is currently found between the constellation of Pisces How big is it? Uranus is about 4 times the size of the Earth, with a diameter of …
Interstellar Cloud IC5146
Basic Information What is this? Interstellar Cloud IC5146, containing the Cocoon Nebula Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Cygnus the Swan How big is it? The region is around 15 light years across How far away is it? Around 1500 light years away What do the colours represent? Red shows colder …
Polaris Flare
Basic Information What is this? The Polaris Flare, a network of dusty filaments Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Ursa Minor the Little Bear How big is it? The region is tens of light years across How far away is it? Around 500 light years away What do the colours represent? …
Dark Matter Halos
Basic Information What is this? A simulation of the distribution of dark matter in the early Universe Where is it in the sky? The simulation is compared to an area of the sky in the constellation of Ursa Major How big is it? The simulation is of a volume of the Universe several hundred million …
Matt Griffin awarded RAS medal
The Royal Astronomical Society has awarded Professor Matt Griffin, of Cardiff University and lead scientist of the SPIRE instrument on board Herschel, the Jackson-Gwilt Medal for his work on instrumentation for astronomy in the submillimetre waveband, the region of the electromagnetic spectrum between the far-infrared and microwave wavebands. Matt Griffin is one of a select group of scientists that helped …
Herschel celebrates one year of spectacular science
Herschel is celebrating one year of spectacular science. Today, a meeting at the Royal Astronomical Society in London is showcasing some of the latest groundbreaking research. Herschel is a far-infrared telescope, and its three scientific instruments detect light with a wavelength typically several hundred times longer than visible light that we see. Instead of seeing …
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Andromeda Galaxy
Basic Information What is this? The Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Andromeda the Princess How big is it? The galaxy is a similar size to our own, around 100,000 light years across and containing around 100 billion stars How far away is it? At 2.5 million …