Successful launch of European satellites

THE EUROPEAN Space Agency's (ESA) two new satellites, Herscheland Planck, are on their way to their final orbit following a flawless launch on Thursday.

It will take several weeks for the telescope and craft to reach their final destination nearly 1.5 million kilometres from earth.

They are bound for L2 or Lagrange Point where the gravity of the sun and earth cancel each other out. That allows for a stable orbit and will ensure that the satellites are shielded from the glare of the sun to ensure they keep their instruments at a temperature approaching near absolute zero.

Both observatories, which have substantial Irish involvement, were launched on board an Ariane 5 rocket from the ESA Spaceport in French Guiana, South America. The two missions have cost nearly €2 billion and have been 15 years in the planning.

The successful launch was greeted with jubilation at the Herschel Science Operations Centre in Madrid where data from Herschel will be processed.

It is headed up by Leo Metcalfe from Bray and his deputy is Laurence O’Rourke from Killucan, Co Westmeath. Mr O’Rourke said: “The work now really begins for the science operations team at the European Space Astronomy Centre. “I, Leo and the team are happy to say that we are looking forward to it. It’s a great day for European science in this, the International Year of Astronomy, and I’m delighted to be working on such an amazing mission.”

Staff from the Advanced Experimental Physics Department at NUI Maynooth will now be anxiously waiting to ensure that the optical instruments it has designed for both will work properly. NUI Maynooth has created a niche for itself in the development of an optical instrument for looking through the far infrared.

Scientists there have been involved for more than a decade in the development of Herschel’s HIFI (Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared), a high-resolution spectrometer which will look for the signatures of elements such as carbon and oxygen in star-forming regions, along with the presence of water.

Herschel is the biggest space telescope ever launched and will be able to see into the far infrared. Currently our views of many galaxies are obscured by clouds of gas which Herschel will be able to see through.

Scientists are hoping that Herschel will see further back in time than any instrument to date and give us clues as to how the first stars and galaxies formed at the start of the universe.

Planck will examine the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), the remnants left over from the Big Bang.