Search Publications
Herschel Space Observatory. An ESA facility for far-infrared and submillimetre astronomy
Heras, A. M.; Pilbratt, G. L.; Metcalfe, L. +8 more
Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009, and is now an operational ESA space observatory offering unprecedented observational capabilities in the far-infrared and submillimetre spectral range 55-671 µm. Herschel carries a 3.5 m diameter passively cooled Cassegrain telescope, which is the largest of its kind and utilises a novel silicon carbide …
The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) on the Herschel Space Observatory
Lutz, D.; Altieri, B.; Andreani, P. +80 more
The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) is one of the three science instruments on ESA's far infrared and submillimetre observatory. It employs two Ge:Ga photoconductor arrays (stressed and unstressed) with 16×25 pixels, each, and two filled silicon bolometer arrays with 16×32 and 32×64 pixels, respectively, to perform integral-fiel…
The Herschel-SPIRE instrument and its in-flight performance
Pérez-Fournon, I.; Valtchanov, I.; Ivison, R. J. +176 more
The Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE), is the Herschel Space Observatory`s submillimetre camera and spectrometer. It contains a three-band imaging photometer operating at 250, 350 and 500 µm, and an imaging Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS) which covers simultaneously its whole operating range of 194-671 µm (447-1550…
From filamentary clouds to prestellar cores to the stellar IMF: Initial highlights from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey
Aussel, H.; Prusti, T.; Blommaert, J. A. D. L. +54 more
We summarize the first results from the Gould Belt Survey, obtained toward the Aquila rift and Polaris Flare regions during the science demonstration phase of Herschel. Our 70-500 µm images taken in parallel mode with the SPIRE and PACS cameras reveal a wealth of filamentary structure, as well as numerous dense cores embedded in the filament…
The universal galaxy cluster pressure profile from a representative sample of nearby systems (REXCESS) and the YSZ - M500 relation
Böhringer, H.; Arnaud, M.; Pointecouteau, E. +3 more
We investigate the regularity of cluster pressure profiles with REXCESS, a representative sample of 33 local (z < 0.2) clusters drawn from the REFLEX catalogue and observed with XMM-Newton. The sample spans a mass range of 1014 M⊙ < M500 < 1015 M⊙, where M500 is the mass co…
Clouds, filaments, and protostars: The Herschel Hi-GAL Milky Way
Sturm, E.; Miville-Deschênes, M. -A.; Boulanger, F. +121 more
We present the first results from the science demonstration phase for the Hi-GAL survey, the Herschel key program that will map the inner Galactic plane of the Milky Way in 5 bands. We outline our data reduction strategy and present some science highlights on the two observed 2° × 2° tiles approximately centered at l = 30° and l = 59°. The two reg…
An absolutely calibrated Teff scale from the infrared flux method. Dwarfs and subgiants
Asplund, M.; Casagrande, L.; Meléndez, J. +2 more
Various effective temperature scales have been proposed over the years. Despite much work and the high internal precision usually achieved, systematic differences of order 100 K (or more) among various scales are still present. We present an investigation based on the infrared flux method aimed at assessing the source of such discrepancies and pin…
Evidence for ultra-fast outflows in radio-quiet AGNs. I. Detection and statistical incidence of Fe K-shell absorption lines
Cappi, M.; Dadina, M.; Tombesi, F. +4 more
Context. Blue-shifted Fe K absorption lines have been detected in recent years between 7 and 10 keV in the X-ray spectra of several radio-quiet AGNs. The derived blue-shifted velocities of the lines can often reach mildly relativistic values, up to 0.2-0.4c. These findings are important because they suggest the presence of a previously unknown mas…
The AKARI/IRC mid-infrared all-sky survey
García-Lario, P.; Müller, T. G.; Ohyama, Y. +30 more
Context. AKARI is the first Japanese astronomical satellite dedicated to infrared astronomy. One of the main purposes of AKARI is the all-sky survey performed with six infrared bands between 9 µm and 200 µm during the period from 2006 May 6 to 2007 August 28. In this paper, we present the mid-infrared part (9 µm and 18 µm b…
The Supernova Legacy Survey 3-year sample: Type Ia supernovae photometric distances and cosmological constraints
Sullivan, M.; Lidman, C.; González-Gaitán, S. +31 more
Aims: We present photometric properties and distance measurements of 252 high redshift Type Ia supernovae (0.15 < z < 1.1) discovered during the first three years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). These events were detected and their multi-colour light curves measured using the MegaPrime/MegaCam instrument at the Canada-France-Hawa…