Planck HFI mission draws to a close

After an impressive two and a half years of operation, Planck’s High Frequency Instrument has finally exhausted its onboard coolant gases and reached the end of its very successful mission. Meanwhile the Low Frequency Instrument, which does not need to be super-cold, will continue taking data with unprecedented sensitivity at longer wavelengths. Planck’s primary mission …

Planck image voted 7th best science story of 2010

The release of Planck’s first image of the whole sky has been voted the 7th best science story of 2010 by Discover Magazine.  The magazine compiled a list of the best stories from the whole of science – from astronomy to biology, and from robotics to genetics. In July, the first image of the whole sky from Planck was released, combining …

Is it a bird, is it a plane…no it’s the Planck satellite

The Planck satellite is not only being monitored by the mission controllers at the Mission Operations Centre.  It is also being watched by optical astronomers, who have captured images of the satellite against the starry background.  There are two methods of doing this, one is to stare at the area of sky which the spacecraft …

Planck and Herschel win Grand Prize

The teams behind Planck and Herschel have been awarded the “Grand Prix 2010” by the French Association for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAAF), to acknowledge their “outstanding space endeavours”.  The prize was awarded on 9th June 2010 in Paris, and senior members of the teams behind both of these groundbreaking missions were there to collect the award on behalf of …

Launch Party video

A video of the launch party held at Cardiff University’s School of Physics and Astronomy can be seen below.  It includes discussion about the Herschel and Planck missions and what the scientists hope to discover, as well as their reactions to such a successful launch.