Snooping around the big dog: VY CMa as seen with Herschel/HIFI

In the framework of the HIFISTARS guaranteed time key programme, we measured more than 70 molecular emission lines with high signal-to-noise ratio towards VY CMa using the high-resolution HIFI spectrometer on board the Herschel satellite. The kinematic information obtained from the measured water lines supports the hypothesis of multiple outflow components. The observed high-intensity maser lines give no indication for strong polarisation.