The Herschel Space Observatory Early results from the first year of activity.

The Herschel Space Observatory is the largest infrared/submillimeter telescope launched to date. Equipped with instruments able to observe between 55 and 671 μm, Herschel is suited to probe the peak emission of the cold (few tens K) dust and to measure the brightest molecular and atomic emission lines of the cold/warm (from tens to hundreds K) gas. We overview the Herschel mission, describing the main scientific motivations behind the project and reporting the major results in its first year of activity.