July 10, 2009--The spiral arms of the galaxy M74 become clearly defined in one of the first images (right) from the European Space Agency's recently launched Herschel Space Observatory. Previous infrared images of the same galaxy taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope showed only a blur (left).

Herschel will be able to reveal some of the coldest and most distant objects in the universe, as it is the first space telescope able to see the longer, lower-energy wavelengths of light known as far-infrared to submillimeter wavelengths.