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POPSHerschel scans hidden Milky Way Herschel intends to study large regions of the Milky Way in its combined Spire-Pacs scanning mode. The instruments will, of course, also work independently. The mission is due to go into routine operations in the next few weeks. However, its third instrument is currently down after experiencing a fault. Engineers can switch to a back-up system to reactivate the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HiFi), but they do not intend to do that until they have satisfied themselves the cause the anomaly is properly understood. The Dutch-led HiFi is a spectrometer that will identify elements and molecules in the clouds of gas and dust which give rise to stars. Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk Bookmark with: * Delicious * Digg * reddit * Facebook * StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version Print Sponsor SEE ALSO Planck telescope's first glimpse 17 Sep 09 | Science & Environment Herschel shows breadth
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POPSSPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK Previous infrared images of the same galaxy taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope showed only a blur (left). Herschel will be able to reveal some of the coldest and most distant objects in the universe, as it is the first space telescope able to see the longer, lower-energy wavelengths of light known as far-infrared to submillimeter wavelengths.
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POPSThe most important telescopes in history In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, New Scientist takes you on an armchair tour of some of the most important telescopes ever built. For more information on these and other pioneering telescopes, read Eyes on the Skies: 400 Years of Telescopic Discovery by Govert Schilling and Lars Lindberg Christensen (Wiley-VCH, 2009). More interesting stuff on site
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POPSTop 10 Astronomy Discoveries "Astronomy has come a long way since humans peering at the night sky began asking, "what the heck is going on up there?" From Galileo's first use of the telescope -- which ushered in the dawn of modern astronomy -- to the discovery of the Big Bang's cosmic calling card, here we've chiseled out 10 of the biggest moments in astronomical history."
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POPSChannelling Martian Maps In the second half of the nineteenth century, when the telescope's quality of resolution had advanced sufficiently, allowing for observation (and therefore mapping) of the Martian landscape.
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POPSThe planet club 2006 - International Astronomical Union clarifies the definition of a planet to ensure two conditions are met: a planet must orbit a star without being a star itself, and it has to be big enough for its gravity to pull it into a spherical shape. Pluto and Eris are put in the category of dwarf planets.
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