We propose to use SPIRE and PACS in parallel mode to carry out a 720 sq.deg. unbiased imaging survey of the entire Galactic Plane of the Milky Way, uniformly sampling a 2-wide strip centered on the warped midplane in the 70, 170, 250, 350 and 500um photometric bands. The Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL) embodies the optimum combination of Herschel wavelength coverage, sensitivity, mapping strategy and speed to deliver, in a single and homogeneous dataset of the highest statistical significance, the ultimate census and characterisation (temperature, luminosity, mass and Spectral Energy Distribution) of star forming regions and cold ISM structures in all the environments of the Galactic ecosystem, at unprecedented resolutions, and at all scales from massive objects in protoclusters to the full spiral arm. This will enable decisive steps toward the formulation of a global predictive model of the ISM-star formation cyclic transformation process which is the engine responsible for most of the energy budget in normal star-forming galaxies. It will be a cornerstone to unveil the evolution of galaxies through redshift back to their formation. Hi-GAL will also deliver a dataset of extraordinary legacy value for decades to come, with a strong potential of systematic and serendipitous science in a wide range of astronomical fields, and enabling the optimum use of future major facilities such as ALMA. In addition to a suite of enhanced products, including mosaiced images and source catalogues in all bands, we will create an immediate legacy value by waiving the totality of our proprietary time. The complete 60-600um view of the Milky Way at 10-35 resolution will be unique to Herschel, as it is beyond the capabilities of all of the future planned ground-based and space-borne facilities either for highest resolution (ALMA, SPIRIT, FIRI and SPECS interferometers) or for highest sensitivity (SPICA and SAFIR actively cooled single-dishes).
Publication
ATLASGAL - properties of a complete sample of Galactic clumps★ . Urquhart J. S. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 473, Issue 1, p.1059-1102 . 473 . 10.1093/mnras/stx2258 . 2018MNRAS.473.1059U , Infrared emission of young HII regions: a Herschel-Hi-GAL study . Cesaroni R. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 579, id.A71, 46 pp. . 579 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201525953 . 2015A&A...579A..71C , A systematic study of Galactic infrared bubbles along the Galactic plane with AKARI and Herschel . Hanaoka Misaki et al. . Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, Volume 71, Issue 1, id.6 . 71 . 10.1093/pasj/psy126 . 2019PASJ...71....6H , First Extended Catalogue of Galactic bubble infrared fluxes from WISE and Herschel surveys . Bufano F. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 473, Issue 3, p.3671-3692 . 473 . 10.1093/mnras/stx2560 . 2018MNRAS.473.3671B , An analysis of star formation with Herschel in the Hi-GAL survey. I. The science demonstration phase fields . Veneziani M. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 549, id.A130, 8 pp. . 549 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201219570 . 2013A&A...549A.130V , Star-forming content of the giant molecular filaments in the Milky Way . Zhang M. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 622, id.A52, 57 pp. . 622 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201732400 . 2019A&A...622A..52Z , Characterizing precursors to stellar clusters with Herschel . Battersby C. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 535,... id.A128, 17 pp. . 535 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201116559 . 2011A&A...535A.128B , Data reduction pipeline for the Hi-GAL survey . Traficante A. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 416, Issue 4, pp. 2932-2943. . 416 . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19244.x . 2011MNRAS.416.2932T , Clustering Properties of Far-infrared Sources in Hi-GAL Science Demonstration Phase Fields . Billot N. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 735, Issue 1, article id. 28, 11 pp. (2011). . 735 . 10.1088/0004-637X/735/1/28 . 2011ApJ...735...28B , The evolutionary status of protostellar clumps hosting class II methanol masers . Jones B. M. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . null . null . 2020MNRAS.493.2015J , Chemical Evolution of N2H+ in Six Massive Star-forming Regions . Yu Nai-Ping et al. . The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 865, Issue 2, article id. 135, 11 pp. (2018). . 865 . 10.3847/1538-4357/aadb94 . 2018ApJ...865..135Y , Multitemperature mapping of dust structures throughout the Galactic Plane using the PPMAP tool with Herschel Hi-GAL data . Marsh K. A. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 471, Issue 3, p.2730-2742 . 471 . 10.1093/mnras/stx1723 . 2017MNRAS.471.2730M , Weak and Compact Radio Emission in Early High-mass Star-forming Regions. II. The Nature of the Radio Sources . Rosero V. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal . null . null . 2019ApJ...880...99R , Dust temperature maps of the Galactic plane: The Herschel spectral energy distribution fitting with Cloudy predictions . Zhu Jiali et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 564, id.A111, 5 pp. . 564 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201322723 . 2014A&A...564A.111Z , Thermal balance and comparison of gas and dust properties of dense clumps in the Hi-GAL survey . Merello M. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 483, Issue 4, p.5355-5379 . 483 . 10.1093/mnras/sty3453 . 2019MNRAS.483.5355M , On the shape of the mass-function of dense clumps in the Hi-GAL fields . I. Spectral energy distribution determination and global properties of the mass-functions . Olmi L. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 551, id.A111, 14 pp. . 551 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201220409 . 2013A&A...551A.111O , Spatial distribution of star formation related to ionized regions throughout the inner Galactic plane . Palmeirim P. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 605, id.A35, 14 pp. . 605 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201629963 . 2017A&A...605A..35P , The Hi-GAL compact source catalogue - I. The physical properties of the clumps in the inner Galaxy (-71.0° < ℓ < 67.0°) . Elia Davide et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 471, Issue 1, p.100-143 . 471 . 10.1093/mnras/stx1357 . 2017MNRAS.471..100E , The initial conditions for stellar protocluster formation. III. The Herschel counterparts of the Spitzer Dark Cloud catalogue . Peretto N. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 590, id.A72, 11 pp. . 590 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201527064 . 2016A&A...590A..72P , A 100 pc Elliptical and Twisted Ring of Cold and Dense Molecular Clouds Revealed by Herschel Around the Galactic Center . Molinari S. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 735, Issue 2, article id. L33, 7 pp. (2011). . 735 . 10.1088/2041-8205/735/2/L33 . 2011ApJ...735L..33M , The Nearby Evolved Stars Survey II: Constructing a volume-limited sample and first results from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope . Scicluna P. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . null . null . 2022MNRAS.512.1091S , Source clustering in the Hi-GAL survey determined using a minimum spanning tree method . Beuret M. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 597, id.A114, 22 pp. . 597 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201629199 . 2017A&A...597A.114B , A Bayesian Method for the Analysis of the Dust Emission in the Far-infrared and Submillimeter . Veneziani M. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 772, Issue 1, article id. 56, 15 pp. (2013). . 772 . 10.1088/0004-637X/772/1/56 . 2013ApJ...772...56V , Evolutionary tracks of massive stars during formation . Smith Michael D. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 438, Issue 2, p.1051-1066 . 438 . 10.1093/mnras/stt2210 . 2014MNRAS.438.1051S , Variations of the spectral index of dust emissivity from Hi-GAL observations of the Galactic plane . Paradis D. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 520, id.L8, 4 pp. . 520 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201015301 . 2010A&A...520L...8P , A systematic study of Galactic infrared bubbles along the Galactic plane with AKARI and Herschel. II. Spatial distributions of dust components around the bubbles . Hanaoka Misaki et al. . Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan . null . null . 2020PASJ...72....5H , Water Masers as an Early Tracer of Star Formation . Ladeyschikov Dmitry A. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series . null . null . 2022ApJS..261...14L , The most evolved sources in the Hi-GAL survey . Elia D. et al. . Communications of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory . null . null . 2020CoBAO..67..241E , Detection and characterization of a 500 μm dust emissivity excess in the Galactic plane using Herschel-Hi-GAL observations . Paradis D. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 537, id.A113, 12 pp. . 537 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201117956 . 2012A&A...537A.113P , The role of spiral arms in Milky Way star formation . Ragan S. E. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 479, Issue 2, p.2361-2373 . 479 . 10.1093/mnras/sty1672 . 2018MNRAS.479.2361R , Comparison of absolute gain photometric calibration between Planck-HFI and Herschel-SPIRE at 545 and 857 GHz . Bertincourt B. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 588, id.A107, 13 pp. . 588 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201527313 . 2016A&A...588A.107B , Large-scale properties of the clump mass function . Olmi L. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 480, Issue 2, p.1831-1849 . 480 . 10.1093/mnras/sty1900 . 2018MNRAS.480.1831O , Testing the Larson relations in massive clumps . Traficante A. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 477, Issue 2, p.2220-2242 . 477 . 10.1093/mnras/sty798 . 2018MNRAS.477.2220T , The Infrared and Radio Flux Densities of Galactic H II regions . Makai Z. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 846, Issue 1, article id. 64, 21 pp. (2017). . 846 . 10.3847/1538-4357/aa84b6 . 2017ApJ...846...64M , Clouds, filaments, and protostars: The Herschel Hi-GAL Milky Way . Molinari S. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 518, id.L100, 5 pp. . 518 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201014659 . 2010A&A...518L.100M , The Hi-GAL compact source catalogue - II. The 360° catalogue of clump physical properties . Elia Davide et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . null . null . 2021MNRAS.504.2742E , A high dust emissivity index β for a CO-faint galaxy in a filamentary Lyα nebula at z = 3.1 . Kato Yuta et al. . Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, Volume 70, Issue 5, id.L6 . 70 . 10.1093/pasj/psy087 . 2018PASJ...70L...6K , A Herschel study of YSO evolutionary stages and formation timelines in two fields of the Hi-GAL survey . Elia D. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 518, id.L97, 5 pp. . 518 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201014651 . 2010A&A...518L..97E , Large-scale latitude distortions of the inner Milky Way disk from the Herschel-Hi-GAL Survey . Molinari S. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 588, id.A75, 12 pp. . 588 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201526286 . 2016A&A...588A..75M , The Hi-GAL catalogue of dusty filamentary structures in the Galactic plane . Schisano Eugenio et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . null . null . 2020MNRAS.492.5420S , The JCMT Plane Survey: first complete data release - emission maps and compact source catalogue . Eden D. J. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 469, Issue 2, p.2163-2183 . 469 . 10.1093/mnras/stx874 . 2017MNRAS.469.2163E , Herschel Hi-GAL imaging of massive young stellar objects . Olguin F. A. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 449, Issue 3, p.2784-2793 . 449 . 10.1093/mnras/stv401 . 2015MNRAS.449.2784O , Direct estimate of cirrus noise in Herschel Hi-GAL images . Martin P. G. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 518, id.L105, 4 pp. . 518 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201014684 . 2010A&A...518L.105M , Mapping the column density and dust temperature structure of IRDCs with Herschel . Peretto N. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 518, id.L98, 5 pp. . 518 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201014652 . 2010A&A...518L..98P , A Refined Sample of Lyman Excess H II Regions . Marshall Brandon et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 478, Issue 4, p.5579-5590 . 478 . 10.1093/mnras/sty1376 . 2018MNRAS.478.5579M , The prevalence of star formation as a function of Galactocentric radius . Ragan S. E. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 462, Issue 3, p.3123-3129 . 462 . 10.1093/mnras/stw1870 . 2016MNRAS.462.3123R , Hi-GAL, the Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey: photometric maps and compact source catalogues. First data release for the inner Milky Way: +68° ≥ l ≥ -70° . Molinari S. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 591, id.A149, 33 pp. . 591 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201526380 . 2016A&A...591A.149M , On the shape of the mass-function of dense clumps in the Hi-GAL fields . II. Using Bayesian inference to study the clump mass function . Olmi L. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 564, id.A87, 12 pp. . 564 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201323035 . 2014A&A...564A..87O , Multiscale analysis of Galactic dust emission using complex wavelet transforms - I. Separation of Gaussian and non-Gaussian fluctuations in Herschel observations . Robitaille J.-F. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 440, Issue 3, p.2726-2741 . 440 . 10.1093/mnras/stu375 . 2014MNRAS.440.2726R , Dust in the Diffuse Emission of the Galactic Plane: The Herschel-Spitzer Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting . Compiègne M. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 724, Issue 1, pp. L44-L47 (2010). . 724 . 10.1088/2041-8205/724/1/L44 . 2010ApJ...724L..44C , Dust temperature tracing the ISRF intensity in the Galaxy . Bernard J.-Ph. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 518, id.L88, 9 pp. . 518 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201014540 . 2010A&A...518L..88B , Infrared Photometric Properties of 709 Candidate Stellar Bowshock Nebulae . Kobulnicky Henry A. et al. . The Astronomical Journal, Volume 154, Issue 5, article id. 201, 18 pp. (2017). . 154 . 10.3847/1538-3881/aa90ba . 2017AJ....154..201K , ATLASGAL-selected massive clumps in the inner Galaxy. III. Dust continuum characterization of an evolutionary sample . König C. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 599, id.A139, 33 pp. . 599 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201526841 . 2017A&A...599A.139K , ATLASGAL-selected massive clumps in the inner Galaxy. VII. Characterisation of mid-J CO emission . Navarete F. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 622, id.A135, 45 pp. . 622 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201629777 . 2019A&A...622A.135N ,
Instrument
SPIRE/PACS parallel_SpirePacsParallel_
Temporal Coverage
2009-10-23T10:28:40Z/2009-10-24T08:42:53Z
Version
SPG v14.2.0
Mission Description
Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009! It is the fourth 'cornerstone' mission in the ESA science programme. With a 3.5 m Cassegrain telescope it is the largest space telescope ever launched. It is performing photometry and spectroscopy in approximately the 55-671 µm range, bridging the gap between earlier infrared space missions and groundbased facilities.
