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Herschel Releases First Images of Milky Way
davecl writes "The Herschel space observatory has just released stunning five-color images of a section of our own galaxy, showing the complex twisted structures of the interstellar medium that drive star and planet formation. The images are the first produced using two of Herschel's instruments, SPIRE and PACS, simultaneously and show the power of this approach. This image is just 2x2 degrees in size, but future Herschel programs will image the entire galactic plane at this sensitivity and resolution. Full scale science operations with Herschel begin in just a few weeks. More information on the project can be found from the ESA, the mission blog (which I contribute to) and from the SPIRE instrument team. The BBC is also covering this story."
FTFA: What is striking in the image is how impressive the colour-coding allows us to differentiate material that is extremely cold (red) from that which is warmer.
I don't mean to take anything away from the great work you guys are doing, but wouldn't it make sense to color code these things in a way that the warmer areas were red? It would jive better with our existing preconceptions.
What's with the choices for emission? are they common spectra for hydrogen or something?
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"