The first science results from the ultra-cold telescope Herschel are being announced this week at a meeting organised by the European Space Agency.

Herschel, which was launched a year ago along with Planck, is looking in the infrared, places where cool objects, like young stars and molecular clouds, can be found. These processes will give astronomers a better inkling about how stars and galaxies were first formed billions of years ago.

This first swathe of results is a taste of what will come in the next 2 and a half years of Herschel’s operating lifetime.

In the picture on the right, you can see a galactic bubble showing in the edge of the white ring a massive star as it is just bursting into life. Stars more than 8 times the mass of our sun are rare, yet they control much of the physical and chemical processes within galaxies. Watching them form will give a better understanding of why and how these stars work says Annie Zavagno, from the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France. This newly formed star is already about 10 times more massive than our sun, and it’s still only a wee ’un.

Other results include the identification of positive water ions in all parts of the galaxies, but especially in energetic regions.

The implications of all these results aren’t clear. But they do show that the instruments are working well, and over the rest of the mission the stars and galaxies in the oldest, coldest parts of the universe will be catalogued like never before.

If you want to see more, check out ESA’s interactive gallery.