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Operating Herschel
 
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Orbits of Herschel and Planck
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Orbits of Herschel and Planck around L2, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system.

Credits: BBC/ ESA
 
 
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An animation showing the Halo orbit that Herschel will cover in four years' time in 3D. Distances are in km.

Credits: ESA
 
 
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This animation shows the Herschel spacecraft in its operational orbit around the 2nd Lagrangian Point (L2). L2 is a virtual point in space situated at 1.5 million kilometres from Earth (about four times the distance between Earth and the Moon) in the opposite direction to the Sun. Herschel will orbit L2 at an average distance of about 800 000 km; a minimum of three years of routine science operations are foreseen.

Credits: ESA (animation by C. Carreau)
 
 
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Herschel operating at the second Lagrange point (L2). It points to a target object for observations, then slews to target another object.

Credits: ESA (animation by AOES Medialab)
 


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