Photographs
SPIRE's First Images
SPIRE's first images of M74 at three different wavelengths On 24 June 2009 the SPIRE instrument recorded its first images during the in-orbit commissioning phase of the Herschel mission. These pictures, made before fine-tuning or in-orbit final calibration was performed, show SPIRE images of M74 at three different wavelengths 250, 300 and 500 microns, scaled to bring out the extended structure of the galaxy and to show more detail in the background sky. The image quality is best at 250 microns because telescopes produce sharper images at their shortest wavelengths.
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These pictures, made before fine-tuning or in-orbit final calibration was performed, show SPIRE images of two galaxies, M66 and M74, at a wavelength of 250 microns. The images trace emission by dust in clouds where star formation is active, and the nucleus and spiral arms show up clearly. Dust is part of the interstellar material fuelling star formation, and these images effectively show the reservoirs of gas and dust that are available to be turned into stars in the galaxies. Significantly, the image frames are also filled with many other galaxies which are much more distant and only show up as point sources.
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Site created on June 25, 2009 by Graham Fawcett
Content last updated: July 8, 2013