Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

ABSTRACT: Herschel Space Observatory, a 3.5m far-infrared telescope, was launched 14 May 2009, and is now located at the Earth-Sun L2 point, carrying out imaging and spectroscopy at wavelengths from 70um to 500um with LHe-cooled detectors. For reference, the longest wavelength for imaging by Spitzer space telescope was 160um, and the longest wavelength for spectroscopy was 38um. The cryogen lifetime is estimated to be 3 years. I will review a few selected early results from Herschel, but will focus on studies being carried out by the KINGFISH "key project" on the dust and gas in nearby well-resolved galaxies, with comparisons between observations and models for the dust.