The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched, carrying a single 3.5-metre (11.5 ft) mirror and instruments sensitive to the far infrared and submillimetre wavebands (55–672 µm). Herschel was the fourth and final cornerstone mission in the Horizon 2000 programme, following SOHO/Cluster II, XMM-Newton and Rosetta. Astronomers (including astronomers from the Copernicus Astronomical Center) are still analyzing data collected with Herschel Telescope. More information on the Herschel pages.
In 2002 the orbiting gamma-ray laboratory known as INTEGRAL was launched. It is expected that its observational data will help answer many important questions regarding gamma ray bursts, active galactic nuceli, supernovae and the properties of the interstellar medium. Astronomers from the N. Copernicus Astronomical Centre and the Space Research Centre are involved in the mission. More on the INTEGRAL pages.
The Cluster AgeS Experiment (CASE) is a long term project aiming at determination of accurate ages and distances of nearby globular clusters (GC) by using observations of detached eclipsing binaries. The project consists of two parts. The first part is an extensive photometric survey of about 10 Galactic GCs with the aim of identifying eclipsing binaries (EB) located near or below the main-sequence turnoff (MSTO). The survey is conducted on the 1.0-m Swope telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. The second part of the project is devoted to determination of absolute parameters (masses, radii, ages and luminosities) of selected EBs. It includes derivation of precise radial velocity curves as well as photometric follow up observations in the optical and near IR domain. More on the CASE pages.
