De Graauw, T;Helmich, FP;Phillips, TG;Stutzki, J;Caux, E;Whyborn, ND;Dieleman, P;Roelfsema, PR;Aarts, H;Assendorp, R;Bachiller, R;Baechtold, W;Barcia, A;Beintema, DA;Belitsky, V;Benz, AO;Bieber, R;Boogert, A;Borys, C;Bumble, B;Cais, P;Caris, M;Cerulli-Irelli, P;Chattopadhyay, G;Cherednichenko, S;Ciechanowicz, M;Coeur-Joly, O;Comito, C;Cros, A;de Jonge, A;de Lange, G;Delforges, B;Delorme, Y;den Boggende, T;Desbat, JM;Diez-Gonzalez, C;Di Giorgio, AM;Dubbeldam, L;Edwards, K;Eggens, M;Erickson, N;Evers, J;Fich, M;Finn, T;Franke, B;Gaier, T;Gal, C;Gao, JR;Gallego, JD;Gauffre, S;Gill, JJ;Glenz, S;Golstein, H;Goulooze, H;Gunsing, T;Gusten, R;Hartogh, P;Hatch, WA;Higgins, R;Honingh, EC;Huisman, R;Jackson, BD;Jacobs, H;Jacobs, K;Jarchow, C;Javadi, H;Jellema, W;Justen, M;Karpov, A;Kasemann, C;Kawamura, J;Keizer, G;Kester, D;Klapwijk, TM;Klein, T;Kollberg, E;Kooi, J;Kooiman, PP;Kopf, B;Krause, M;Krieg, JM;Kramer, C;Kruizenga, B;Kuhn, T;Laauwen, W;Lai, R;Larsson, B;Leduc, HG;Leinz, C;Lin, RH;Liseau, R;Liu, GS;Loose, A;Lopez-Fernandez, I;Lord, S;Luinge, W;Marston, A;Martin-Pintado, J;Maestrini, A;Maiwald, FW;McCoey, C;Mehdi, I;Megej, A;Melchior, M;Meinsma, L;Merkel, H;Michalska, M;Monstein, C;Moratschke, D;Morris, P;Muller, H;Murphy, JA;Naber, A;Natale, E;Nowosielski, W;Nuzzolo, F;Olberg, M;Olbrich, M;Orfei, R;Orleanski, P;Ossenkopf, V;Peacock, T;Pearson, JC;Peron, I;Phillip-May, S;Piazzo, L;Planesas, P;Rataj, M;Ravera, L;Risacher, C;Salez, M;Samoska, LA;Saraceno, P;Schieder, R;Schlecht, E;Schloder, F;Schmulling, F;Schultz, M;Schuster, K;Siebertz, O;Smit, H;Szczerba, R;Shipman, R;Steinmetz, E;Stern, JA;Stokroos, M;Teipen, R;Teyssier, D;Tils, T;Trappe, N;van Baaren, C;van Leeuwen, BJ;van de Stadt, H;Visser, H;Wildeman, KJ;Wafelbakker, CK;Ward, JS;Wesselius, P;Wild, W;Wulff, S;Wunsch, HJ;Tielens, X;Zaal, P;Zirath, H;Zmuidzinas, J;Zwart, F

2010

July

Astronomy and Astrophysics

The Herschel-Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI)

Published

468 ()

518

Aims. This paper describes the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared ( HIFI) that was launched onboard ESA's Herschel Space Observatory in May 2009. Methods. The instrument is a set of 7 heterodyne receivers that are electronically tuneable, covering 480-1250 GHz with SIS mixers and the 1410-1910 GHz range with hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The local oscillator (LO) subsystem comprises a Ka-band synthesizer followed by 14 chains of frequency multipliers and 2 chains for each frequency band. A pair of auto-correlators and a pair of acousto-optical spectrometers process the two IF signals from the dual-polarization, single-pixel front-ends to provide instantaneous frequency coverage of 2 x 4 GHz, with a set of resolutions (125 kHz to 1 MHz) that are better than 0.1 kms(-1). Result. After a successful qualification and a pre-launch TB/TV test program, the flight instrument is now in-orbit and completed successfully the commissioning and performance verification phase. The in-orbit performance of the receivers matches the pre-launch sensitivities. We also report on the in-orbit performance of the receivers and some first results of HIFI's operations.

LES ULIS CEDEX A

0004-6361

10.1051/0004-6361/201014698