Issue |
A&A
Volume 518, July-August 2010
Herschel: the first science highlights
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | L6 | |
Number of page(s) | 7 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201014698 | |
Published online | 16 July 2010 |
Letter to the Editor
The Herschel-Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI)*
1
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, PO Box 800, Groningen, The Netherlands
2
Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
3
Joint Alma Observatory, Santiago, Chile e-mail: tdegraau@alma.cl
4
Physics Department, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
5
KOSMA, I. Physik. Institut, Universität zu K'öln, Zülpicher Str. 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
6
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Université de Toulouse [UPS], 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
7
CNRS/INSU, UMR 5187, 9 Avenue du Colonel Roche, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
8
Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN), Calle Alfonso XII 3, 28014 Madrid, Spain
9
Institute für Hochfrequenz Techniques, ETH, Zürich, 8093 Zürich, ETH HF, Switzerland
10
Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN), Centro Astronómico de Yebes, Apartado 148. 19080 Guadalajara, Spain
11
Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
12
Astronomical Institute, ETH, Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
13
NASA Herschel Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena CA, USA
14
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MC 168-314, Pasadena, CA 91109 USA
15
Université de Bordeaux, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, 33000 Bordeaux, France
16
CNRS/INSU, UMR 5804, BP 89, 33271 Floirac, France
17
MPI für Radio Astronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
18
Istituto Fisica Spazio Interplanetario INAF, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Roma, Italy
19
Laboratoire d'Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique, UMR 8112 CNRS/INSU, OP, ENS, UPMC, UCP, Paris, France
20
LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, 61 Avenue de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France
21
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
22
University of Massachusetts, Astronomy Dept., 710 N. Pleasant St., LGRT-619E, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
23
N. Copernicus Astronomical Center, Rabianska 8, 87-100 Torun, Poland
24
Applied Physics Department, Delft University, Delft, The Netherlands
25
MPI für Sonnensystemforschung, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
26
Experimental Physics Department, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co Kildare, Ireland
27
Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Stieltjesweg, 2628 CK Delft, The Netherlands
28
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, 1 Space Park, Redondo Beach, CA 90278, USA
29
Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
30
European Space Astronomy Centre, ESA, PO Box 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
31
Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), Ctra de Torrejón a Ajalvir, km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
32
Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Bartycka 18A, 00-716 Warsaw, Poland
33
Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri-INAF- Largo E. Fermi 5, 50100 Florence, Italy
34
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique, IRAM, 300 rue de la Piscine, 38406 St Martin d'Hères, France
35
European Organization for Astronomical research in the Southern Hemisphere, Karl-Scwarzschild-strasse 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
Received:
1
April
2010
Accepted:
13
May
2010
Aims. This paper describes the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) that was launched onboard ESA's Herschel Space Observatory in May 2009.
Methods. The instrument is a set of 7 heterodyne receivers that are electronically tuneable, covering 480–1250 GHz with SIS mixers and the 1410–1910 GHz range with hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The local oscillator (LO) subsystem comprises a Ka-band synthesizer followed by 14 chains of frequency multipliers and 2 chains for each frequency band. A pair of auto-correlators and a pair of acousto-optical spectrometers process the two IF signals from the dual-polarization, single-pixel front-ends to provide instantaneous frequency coverage of 2 × 4 GHz, with a set of resolutions (125 kHz to 1 MHz) that are better than 0.1 km s-1.
Results. After a successful qualification and a pre-launch TB/TV test program, the flight instrument is now in-orbit and completed successfully the commissioning and performance verification phase. The in-orbit performance of the receivers matches the pre-launch sensitivities. We also report on the in-orbit performance of the receivers and some first results of HIFI's operations.
Key words: instrumentation: spectrographs / methods: observational / infrared: general / submillimeter: general / techniques: spectroscopic
© ESO, 2010
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