The highly radiopure 250 kg NaI(Tl) DAMA/ LIBRA set-up is running at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN. In this paper the first result obtained by exploiting the model independent annual modulation signature for Dark Matter (DM) particles is presented. It refers to an exposure of 0.53 ton×yr. The collected DAMA/LIBRA data satisfy all the many peculiarities of the DM annual modulation signature. Neither systematic effects nor side reactions able to account for the observed modulation amplitude and to contemporaneously satisfy all the several requirements of this DM signature are available. Considering the former DAMA/NaI and the present DAMA/LIBRA data all together (total exposure 0.82 ton × yr), the presence of Dark Matter particles in the galactic halo is supported, on the basis of the DM annual modulation signature, at 8.2 σ C.L.; in particular, in the energy interval (2-6) keV, the modulation amplitude is (0.0131 ± 0.0016) cpd/kg/keV and the phase and the period are well compatible with June 2 nd and one year, respectively.

DAMA/LIBRA is running at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. Here the results obtained with a further exposure of 0.34 ton × yr are presented. They refer to two further annual cycles collected one before and one after the first DAMA/LIBRA upgrade occurred on September/October 2008. The cumulative exposure with those previously released by the former DAMA/NaI and by DAMA/LIBRA is now 1.17 ton × yr, corresponding to 13 annual cycles. The data further confirm the previous positive results obtained investigating the presence of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo by means of the model independent Dark Matter annual modulation signature; the confidence level is now 8.9 σ for the cumulative exposure. In particular, with the cumulative exposure the modulation amplitude of the single-hit events in the (2-6) keV energy interval measured in NaI(Tl) target is (0.0116 ± 0.0013) cpd/kg/keV; the measured phase is (146 ± 7) days and the measured period is (0.999 ± 0.002) yr, values well in agreement with those expected for the DM particles.

The Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE), is the Herschel Space Observatory's submillimetre camera and spectrometer. It contains a three-band imaging photometer operating at 250, 350 and 500 μm, and an imaging Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS) which covers simultaneously its whole operating range of 194-671 μm (447-1550 GHz). The SPIRE detectors are arrays of feedhorn-coupled bolometers cooled to 0.3 K. The photometer has a field of view of 4 × 8 , observed simultaneously in the three spectral bands. Its main operating mode is scan-mapping, whereby the field of view is scanned across the sky to achieve full spatial sampling and to cover large areas if desired. The spectrometer has an approximately circular field of view with a diameter of 2.6 . The spectral resolution can be adjusted between 1.2 and 25 GHz by changing the stroke length of the FTS scan mirror. Its main operating mode involves a fixed telescope pointing with multiple scans of the FTS mirror to acquire spectral data. For extended source measurements, multiple position offsets are implemented by means of an internal beam steering mirror to achieve the desired spatial sampling and by rastering of the telescope pointing to map areas larger than the field of view. The SPIRE instrument consists of a cold focal plane unit located inside the Herschel cryostat and warm electronics units, located on the spacecraft Service Module, for instrument control and data handling. Science data are transmitted to Earth with no on-board data compression, and processed by automatic pipelines to produce calibrated science products. The in-flight performance of the instrument matches or exceeds predictions based on pre-launch testing and modelling: the photometer sensitivity is comparable to or slightly better than estimated pre-launch, and the spectrometer sensitivity is also better by a factor of 1.5-2. Key words. instrumentation: photometers -instrumentation: spectrographs -space vehicles: instruments -submillimeter: generalHerschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) is one of the three science instruments on ESA's far infrared and submillimetre observatory. It employs two Ge:Ga photoconductor arrays (stressed and unstressed) with 16 × 25 pixels, each, and two filled silicon bolometer arrays with 16 × 32 and 32 × 64 pixels, respectively, to perform integral-field spectroscopy and imaging photometry in the 60−210 μm wavelength regime. In photometry mode, it simultaneously images two bands, 60−85 μm or 85−125 μm and 125−210 μm, over a field of view of ∼1.75 × 3.5 , with close to Nyquist beam sampling in each band. In spectroscopy mode, it images a field of 47 × 47 , resolved into 5 × 5 pixels, with an instantaneous spectral coverage of ∼ 1500 km s −1 and a spectral resolution of ∼175 km s −1 . We summarise the design of the instrument, describe observing modes, calibration, and data analysis methods, and present our current assessment of the in-orbit performance of the instrument based on the performance verification tests. PACS is fully operational, and the achieved performance is close to or better than the pre-launch predictions. Key words. space vehicles: instruments -instrumentation: photometers -instrumentation: spectrographsHerschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

The results obtained with the total exposure of 1.04 ton × yr collected by DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the I.N.F.N. during 7 annual cycles (i.e. adding a further 0.17 ton × yr exposure) are presented. The DAMA/LIBRAphase1 data give evidence for the presence of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo, on the basis of the exploited model independent DM annual modulation signature by using highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) target, at 7.5σ C.L. Including also the first generation DAMA/NaI experiment (cumulative exposure 1.33 ton × yr, corresponding to 14 annual cycles), the C.L. is 9.3σ and the modulation amplitude of the single-hit events in the (2-6) keV energy interval is: (0.0112 ± 0.0012) cpd/kg/keV; the measured phase is (144 ± 7) days and the measured period is (0.998 ± 0.002) yr, values well in agreement with those expected for DM particles. No systematic or side reaction able to mimic the exploited DM signature has been found or suggested by anyone over more than a decade.