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| Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey | |
|---|---|
| Name | Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey |
| Acronym | HerMES |
| Mission | Herschel Space Observatory |
| Operator | European Space Agency |
| Instruments | Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver |
| Wavelength | far-infrared |
| Region | extragalactic fields |
| Start | 2009 |
| End | 2013 |
Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey
The Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey was a coordinated observational program using the Herschel Space Observatory to map far-infrared emission across multiple extragalactic fields. The survey linked large programs and targeted fields associated with missions such as Spitzer Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Hubble Space Telescope to enable multiwavelength studies of galaxy evolution, star formation, and active galactic nuclei. Led by teams including investigators from institutions like the European Space Agency, NASA, and the University of Cambridge, the survey integrated data products with legacy datasets from projects associated with Sloan Digital Sky Survey, COSMOS, and GOODS.
HerMES was built around coordinated campaigns using the Herschel Space Observatory payload, principally the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver instrument, to observe well-known fields such as COSMOS, Lockman Hole, Extended Chandra Deep Field-South, GOODS-North, and Bootes. The program engaged consortia from institutions including the Max Planck Society, University College London, Imperial College London, Caltech, and Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris to assemble multi-tiered maps spanning wide, intermediate, and deep tiers comparable to surveys like HerMES-adjacent efforts (e.g., H-ATLAS). Coordination with ground-based facilities such as Atacama Large Millimeter Array and Submillimeter Array maximized science return through cross-identification with catalogs from Very Large Telescope, Keck Observatory, Gemini Observatory, and Large Binocular Telescope.
HerMES aimed to quantify the dust-obscured star-formation history traced by far-infrared emission in the context of galaxy evolution frameworks developed by teams behind Lambda-CDM modeling and semi-analytic models used at institutions like Oxford University and Princeton University. Goals included measuring luminosity functions across redshift ranges relevant to results from Planck (spacecraft) and testing relationships between star formation and active nuclei activity informed by studies from Chandra X-ray Observatory, XMM-Newton, and surveys like SDSS. The survey sought to resolve the cosmic infrared background into constituent populations, compare dust properties with results from Spitzer Space Telescope spectroscopy, and provide inputs for hydrodynamical simulations performed by groups at University of Chicago and Durham University.
HerMES implemented a tiered strategy comprising wide-area shallow fields, intermediate-depth surveys, and ultra-deep pencil-beam observations in legacy fields tied to programs like GOODS, COSMOS, and CANDELS. Observations employed SPIRE bands often compared with data from the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer instrument on Herschel, coordinated with ancillary imaging from Hubble Space Telescope programs and spectroscopic follow-up from facilities such as Keck Observatory and Very Large Telescope. Field selection prioritized low infrared cirrus regions like the Lockman Hole and areas with rich multiwavelength coverage from catalogs by Sloan Digital Sky Survey, GALEX, and Two Micron All Sky Survey. Observing strategies mirrored methodologies used in surveys such as SCUBA-2 and BLAST, optimizing scan maps and redundancy to mitigate confusion noise and instrumental systematics.
Data processing pipelines leveraged software stacks developed by teams at University College London, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and Space Telescope Science Institute to produce calibrated maps, point-source catalogs, and multispectral photometry tables. Products included SPIRE maps at multiple wavelengths, source catalogs cross-matched to catalogs from Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory, and curated value-added catalogs integrating redshift information from spectroscopic campaigns by groups at Keck Observatory and photometric redshift estimates based on templates from SED fitting codes developed at Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris and University of Edinburgh. Data releases followed protocols similar to legacy archives maintained by European Space Agency and NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, enabling community use and reanalysis by teams at Caltech, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.
HerMES resolved a substantial fraction of the cosmic infrared background into discrete galaxies, refining measurements previously inferred from COBE and Planck (spacecraft) data, and identified numerous luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies at redshifts overlapping with studies from VLA, ALMA, and SCUBA-2. The survey characterized dust-obscured star-formation main-sequence relationships extended from work by researchers at University of California, Berkeley and ETH Zurich, constrained infrared luminosity functions contemporaneous with analyses from H-ATLAS, and revealed populations of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei studied in conjunction with Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton data. HerMES enabled cross-calibration of far-infrared templates used in extragalactic surveys by teams at Imperial College London and informed theoretical models from groups at Princeton University and Durham University.
HerMES left a legacy of multiwavelength data products and catalogs widely used by communities at institutions such as Max Planck Society, European Space Agency, and NASA. Its catalogs and maps have underpinned follow-up programs with Atacama Large Millimeter Array, informed proposals to facilities like James Webb Space Telescope and Extremely Large Telescope, and contributed to training datasets used by machine-learning teams at Google DeepMind-adjacent research groups and university labs. The survey’s methodology influenced subsequent far-infrared and submillimeter programs including H-ATLAS and planning for future missions by agencies such as European Space Agency and NASA.
Category:Astronomical surveys