The 5 Herschel wavebands of M 16, from top to bottom, 70, 160, 250, 350 and 500 μm. Note also the extended PACS coverage compared with SPIRE (see Sect. 2). The observed level of cirrus noise in M 16 is  ~ 20 mJy and 200 mJy at λ = 70 and 160 μm, respectively and 2, 1 and 1 Jy at the SPIRE 250, 350 and 500 μm bands. At shorter wavelengths only those warmer objects, such as protostars and HII regions are seen. At longer wavelengths Herschel detects cold, deeply embedded filaments and the progenitors of high-mass stars.