The European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Monday the depletion of liquid helium in the Herschel Space Observatory, which puts an end to three years’ pioneering observations “of the Universe.
In a statement, ESA reported that the liquid helium coolant was “essential to cool the instruments to near absolute zero” in this spacecraft, allowing observations ‘highly sensitive’ of the universe since its launch on May 14, 2009.
The reserve 2,300 liters of helium Herschel was slowly evaporating until exhausted, revealed during a daily session of communication between the ship and the base in Western Australia, to register a ‘clearly rising temperatures’ in all instruments of the observatory.
According to the statement of the Director of Science and Robotic Exploration ESA, Alvaro Gimenez Canete, Herschel “exceeded expectations, offering a wealth of amazing information that will keep astronomers busy in the coming years” .
Since its launch, the spacecraft conducted nearly 35,000 observations and gathered more than 25,000 hours of scientific research, contributing to the enrichment of the data set for this agency.
Goran Pilbratt scientist of the project, announced that Herschel offered “a new view of the universe hidden, pointing to a previously unseen process of star birth and galaxy formation.”
Pibratt also explained that the observatory space allowed “to follow the water through the universe, from the molecular clouds newborn stars.”
The program responsible for the ESA, Thomas Passvogel stressed the “excellent work of the European institutions and universities in development, construction and operation of the observatory and its instruments. “
According to the ESA, Herschel allowed to capture images, including the ‘impressive networks of filaments of dust and gas” within the Milky Way and helped to “illustrate the history of star formation. “
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