This map shows the distribution of water in the stratosphere of Jupiter as measured with the Herschel space observatory.

Stunning new view from ESA’s Herschel space observatory of the iconic Horsehead Nebula in the context of its surroundings.

This artist's impression shows the "starburst" galaxy HFLS3. The galaxy appears as little more than a faint, red smudge in images from the Herschel space observatory.

W3 is an enormous stellar nursery about 6,200 light-years away in the Perseus Arm, one of the Milky Way galaxy's main spiral arms, which hosts both low- and high-mass star formation.

This artistís impression of Herschel is set against an image captured by the observatory, showing baby stars forming in the Rosette nebula.

This graph shows how the average rate of star formation for three different samples of galaxies varies as a function of the power of the active galactic nuclei hosted at their centers.

This artist's concept illustrates the planet-forming disk around a young star called TW Hydrae, located about 175 light-years away in the Hydra, or Sea Serpent, constellation.

In this new view of the Andromeda galaxy from the Herschel space observatory, cool lanes of forming stars are revealed in the finest detail yet.

The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is seen here in a new view from the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation.

Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a large asteroid belt around the bright star Vega, as illustrated here at left in brown.

Herschel has produced an intricate view of the remains of a star that died in a stellar explosion a millennium ago. It has provided further proof that the interstellar dust which lies throughout our Galaxy is created when massive stars reach the end of their lives.

This image shows a three-color infrared view of the supernova remnant W44 and surrounding regions. It was taken by the European Space Agency's Herschel mission, which has important contributions from NASA.

This image of the Vela C Region demonstrates Herschel’s ability to trace both high- and low-mass star formation at a range of evolutionary stages, from cool filaments, pre-stellar cores and protostars to more evolved regions containing dust that has been gently heated by hot stars.

This new view of the Cygnus-X star-formation region by Herschel highlights chaotic networks of dust and gas that point to sites of massive star formation.

Infrared view of the Fomalhaut dust disk taken by the Herschel Space Observatory.

Inner structural features seen in this image are helping scientists to understand the mechanisms and interactions within the galaxy, as are the jets seen extending over thousands of light years from the black hole believed to be at its heart.

This view of the Eagle nebula combines data from almost opposite ends of the electromagnetic spectrum. Herschel captured longer-wavelength, or far, infrared light, and the space telescope XMM-Newton imaged X-rays.

Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy in infrared light, is one of the biggest satellite galaxies of our home galaxy, though it is still considered a dwarf galaxy compared to the big spiral of our Milky Way.

This artist's concept illustrates an icy planet-forming disk around a young star called TW Hydrae, located about 175 light-years away in the Hydra, or Sea Serpent, constellation.

New measurements from the Herschel Space Observatory have discovered water with the same chemical signature as our oceans in a comet called Hartley 2.

Cassini images of Saturn's moon Enceladus backlit by the sun show the fountain-like sources of the fine spray of material that towers over the south polar region.

Herschel found oxygen molecules in a dense patch of gas and dust adjacent to star-forming regions in the Orion nebula.

In a strange twist of science, astronomers using the Herschel Space Observatory have discovered that a suspected ring at the center of our galaxy is warped for reasons they cannot explain.

This layout compares two pictures of a supernova remnant called SN 1987A -- the left image was taken by the Herschel Space Observatory, and the right is an enlarged view of the circled region at left, taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

This plot shows energy emitted from a supernova remnant called SN 1987A.

Infrared mash-up of RCW 120 using data from Herschel Space Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope.

Dense filaments of gas in the IC5146 interstellar cloud can be seen clearly in this image taken in infrared light by the Herschel space observatory.

This mosaic of the Andromeda spiral galaxy highlights explosive stars in its interior, and cooler, dusty stars forming in its many rings.

This image of the Andromeda spiral galaxy highlights explosive stars in its interior, and cooler, dusty stars forming in its many rings.

This image composite shows a warped and magnified view of a galaxy discovered by the Herschel Space Observatory, one of five such galaxies uncovered by the infrared telescope.

Thousands of galaxies crowd into this Herschel image of the distant Universe. Each dot is an entire galaxy containing billions of stars.

The dark hole seen in the green cloud at the top of this image was likely carved out by multiple jets and blasts of radiation. The inset image is an observation from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

This image is taken looking towards a region of the Galaxy in the Eagle constellation, closer to the Galactic centre than our Sun. Here, we see the outstanding end-products of the stellar assembly line.

A picture of the first field observed in the H-ATLAS survey, made by combining the images made with the SPIRE camera at 250, 350 and 500 microns.

The HIFI spectrum of the Orion Nebula, superimposed on a Spitzer image of Orion.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the SPIRE fourier transform spectrometer on Herschel. Shown here is a portion of the SPIRE spectrum of VY Canis Majoris (VY CMa), a red supergiant star near the end of its life, which is ejecting huge quantities of gas and dust into interstellar space.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the SPIRE fourier transform spectrometer on Herschel. It depicts the spectrum of M82, the nearest starburst galaxy.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the SPIRE fourier transform spectrometer on Herschel. Shown here is spectrum of Arp 220, a galaxy 250 million light years distant from Earth with very active star formation triggered by a merger between two large spiral galaxies (like the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy).

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the HIFI instrument on Herschel. In this spectrum of Comet Garradd the strong water line is clearly evident.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the HIFI instrument on Herschel. In this spectrum of Comet Garradd the strong water line is clearly evident.

This image from the Herschel Observatory reveals some of the coldest and darkest material in our galaxy. The choppy clouds of gas and dust pictured here are just starting to condense into new stars. The yellow filaments show the coldest dust dotted with the youngest embryonic stars.

On 24 June 2009, SPIRE recorded its first images during the in-orbit commissioning phase of the Herschel mission.

Herschel carries the largest space telescope ever launched to date.

The heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA ascends from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone during its morning liftoff with a dual-payload of Europe’s Herschel space telescope and Planck observatory.

Ariane 5 lifts off from the ELA-3 launch zone at Europe’s Spaceport on its May 14 mission, which successfully lofted the Herschel space telescope and Planck observatory.

Ariane 5 enclosing Herschel and Planck lift off, at Europe's Spaceport on 14 May 2009.

Ariane 5 enclosing Herschel and Planck at the Ariane launch area at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 13 May 2009.

This is an artist concept of the Herschel Space Observatory.

The Herschel and Planck launch campaign team members present at the European spaceport in Kourou, gathered in front of the full-scale Ariane 5 launcher model for a group photo.

The Groningen Discovery Truck is filled with hands-on experiments dealing with infrared radiation, with a scale model of the Herschel spacecraft on display.

Helium gas boils off from within the helium II tank, after which it flows through a system of pipes around the focal plane units of the three instruments to cool them down.

The Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver.

The Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared.

Four of the twelve petals or segments that will make up the Herschel telescope primary mirror being assembled before being brazed into a single structure.

A near-infrared NICMOS image of Saturn.

Sir William Herschel discovered, in addition to the planet Uranus, many new nebulae, clusters of stars and binary stars.

Herschel emblem on a black background.

Herschel emblem with ESA and NASA logos on a black background.

NASA Herschel Science Center logo with subtext on a black background

Artist concept of the Herschel Space Observatory.

NASA Herschel Science Center logo with black background

This is a composite photo, assembled from separate images of Jupiter and comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, as imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 1994.

Stunning new view from ESA’s Herschel space observatory of the iconic Horsehead Nebula in the context of its surroundings.

Kappa Coronae Borealis and its dust disk.

Dense envelopes of gas and dust surround the fledging stars known as protostars, making their detection difficult until now. The discovery gives scientists a window into the earliest and least understood phases of star formation.

One of the great curiosities in solar science is that our Sun’s outer atmosphere – the corona – is heated to millions of degrees when its visible surface is ‘only’ about 6000 degrees.

This illustration shows a galaxy in the early Universe that is releasing material via two symmetric outflows triggered by the supermassive black hole hosted at its center.

This artist's illustration shows a planetary disk that weighs the equivalent of 50 Jupiter-mass planets.

The ring-like swirls of dust filling the Andromeda galaxy stand out colorfully in this new image from the Herschel Space Observatory.

Herschel Space Observatory captured asteroid Apophis in its field of view during the approach to Earth on 5/6 January 2013.

This artist's concept illustrates an asteroid belt around the bright star Vega.

This artist's impression shows the orbits of planets and comets around the star 61 Vir, superimposed on a view from the Herschel Space Telescope.

Supernova remnant W44 is the focus of this new image created by combining data from ESA's Herschel and XMM-Newton space observatories.

The Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a giant, galaxy-packed filament ablaze with billions of new stars.

Supermassive black holes are believed to reside in the hearts of all large galaxies. When gas falls upon these monsters, the materials are accelerated and heated around the black hole, releasing great torrents of energy.

This Herschel Space Observatory image of Centaurus A combines long-wavelength infrared data from its Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) taken at 100 microns, and its Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instruments at 250, 350 and 500 microns.

This new view of the Orion nebula highlights fledging stars hidden in the gas and clouds. It shows infrared observations taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel mission, in which NASA plays an important role.

This Herschel image of the Eagle nebula shows the self-emission of the intensely cold nebula's gas and dust as never seen before. Each color shows a different temperature of dust, from around 10 degrees above absolute zero for the red, up to around 40 Kelvin, or minus 388 degrees Fahrenheit, for the blue.

Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy in infrared light, this nearby dwarf galaxy looks like a fiery, circular explosion. Rather than fire, however, those ribbons are actually giant ripples of dust spanning tens or hundreds of light-years.

Using the Herschel Space Observatory, astronomers have detected the emission from cold water vapor in the planet-forming disk around the young star TW Hydrae.

Using the Herschel Space Observatory, astronomers have discovered that comet Hartley 2 possesses a ratio of "heavy water" to light, or normal, water that matches what's found in Earth's oceans.

In this artist's conception, a galaxy accretes mass from rapid, narrow streams of cold gas. These filaments provide the galaxy with continuous flows of raw material to feed its star-forming at a rather leisurely pace.

The squiggly lines, or spectra, reveal the signatures of oxygen molecules, detected in the Orion nebula by the Hershel Space Observatory.

In a strange twist of science, astronomers using the Herschel Space Observatory have discovered that a suspected ring at the center of our galaxy is warped for reasons they cannot explain.

This image shows filamentary structures surrounding the region of SN 1987A. These are from cold dust, as cold as 10 to 20 Kelvin, filling the space between the stars. The dust in the interstellar space may have originally formed in past explosions of other supernovae.

Infrared mash-up of RCW 120 using data from Herschel Space Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope.

An artist’s impression showing a galaxy with a molecular outflow.

A region of the sky called the "Lockman Hole", located in the constellation of Ursa Major, is one of the areas surveyed in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory.

This image of the Andromeda spiral galaxy highlights explosive stars in its interior, and cooler, dusty stars forming in its many rings.

This diagram illustrates a cosmic phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, in which a galaxy magnifies a second, more distant galaxy, making it appear brighter and easier to study.

IRC+10216, also known as CW Leonis -- a star rich in carbon where astronomers were surprised to find water.

The dark hole seen in the green cloud at the top of this image was likely carved out by multiple jets and blasts of radiation.

RCW 120 is a galactic bubble with a large surprise. How large? At least 8 times the mass of the Sun. Nestled in the shell around this large bubble is an embryonic star that looks set to turn into one of the brightest stars in the Galaxy.

This image, in the constellation of Vulpecula, shows an entire assembly line of newborn stars.

This image from the Herschel Space Observatory shows most the cloud associated with the Rosette nebula, a stellar nursery about 5,000 light-years from Earth in the Monoceros, or Unicorn,

Some 700 newly-forming stars are estimated to be crowded into these colourful filaments of dust. The complex is part of a mysterious ring of stars called Gould's Belt.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the PACS integral field spectrometer on Herschel. Shown here (in red) is the spectrum of the red supergiant VY CMa between 50 and 210 micron.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the PACS integral field spectrometer on Herschel. Shown here are spectral images from a region (indicated by the pink box overlaid on the optical image) of the prototype nearby starburst galaxy, M82.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the PACS integral field spectrometer on Herschel. Shown here is a spectral scan of one of the emission lines detected by PACS in the Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy (ULIRG) known as Markarian 231.

This is one of the early spectra obtained with the HIFI instrument on Herschel. This HIFI spectrum of a massive star-forming region reveals the fingerprints of a number of key organic molecules, such as formaldehyde (H2CO), carbon sulphide (CS), the formyl ion (HCO+), the ethynyl radical (C2H), and the methyladyne radical (CH).

Some of the coldest and darkest dust in space shines brightly in this infrared image from the Herschel Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important participation from NASA. The image is a composite of light captured simultaneously by two of Herschel's three instruments -- the photodetector array camera and spectrometer, and its spectral and photometric imaging receiver.

This image from the Herschel Observatory reveals some of the coldest and darkest material in our galaxy. The choppy clouds of gas and dust are just starting to condense into new stars.

Three-color far-infrared image of M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy.

Ariane 5 V188 with Herschel and Planck on board rises above ESA's 15m ESTRACK tracking station at Kourou, French Guiana, just after liftoff at 15:12 CEST, 14 May 2009.

The second Ariane 5 flight of 2009 successfully placed Herschel and Planck on their way to deep space missions that will provide new insights into the origins and future of our universe.

Arianespace’s on-target May 14 mission with Herschel and Planck marked the 44th flight for the workhorse Ariane 5 launcher, as well as its 30th consecutive success.

Ariane 5 enclosing Herschel and Planck in the Ariane launch area, at Europe's Spaceport on 13 May 2009.

Though they'll be launching into space on the same rocket and will have similar orbits in space, Herschel and Planck are two very different missions that promise to dramatically change what we know about the history of the universe and our own Milky Way galaxy.

Aerial view of the ZL-3 during the Ariane 5 V158B campaign.

The Herschel spacecraft undergoes final preparations inside the Large European Acoustic Facility for the acoustic tests on 5 and 6 June 2008.

The Herschel cryostat vacuum vessel, seen here in the ESTEC cleanroom, stores 2370 litres of superfluid liquid helium which is used to help cool the various elements of the detector plane.

Top view of the Herschel focal plane, with the focal plane units (FPUs) of the three scientific instruments.

The Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer.

The Herschel primary mirror blank, mounted in its transport container, is loaded onto an Airbus A300-600ST "Beluga".

A photograph of a Herschel telescope sintered petal back side, taken at EADS on 3 May 2001.

Artist's impression of Herschel (formerly called FIRST) and NGST located in the L2 point 1.5 million km from Earth

Herschel emblem on a white background.

Herschel emblem with ESA and NASA logos on a white background.

NASA Herschel Science Center logo with subtext on a white background

Artist concept of the Herschel Space Observatory side view.

NASA Herschel Science Center logo with white background