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Context. Circumstellar discs are ubiquitous around young stars, but rapidly dissipate their gas and dust on timescales of a few Myr. The Herschel Space Observatory allows for the study of the warm disc atmosphere, using far-infrared spectroscopy to measure gas content and excitation conditions, and far-IR photometry to constrain the dust distribution.Aims. We aim to detect and characterize the gas content of circumstellar discs in four targets as part of the Herschel science demonstration phase.Methods. We carried out sensitive medium resolution spectroscopy and high sensitivity photometry at gimel similar to 60-190 mu m using the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory.Results. We detect [OI] 63 mu m emission from the young stars HD 169142, TW Hydrae, and RECX 15, but not HD 181327. No other lines, including [CII] 158 and [OI] 145, are significantly detected. All four stars are detected in photometry at 70 and 160 mu m. Extensive models are presented in associated papers.

Astronomy and Astrophysics 555 (2013): A67 Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics, Context. Circumstellar discs are the places where planets form, therefore knowledge of their evolution is crucial for our understanding of planet formation. The Herschel Space Observatory is providing valuable data for studying disc systems, thanks to its sensitivity and wavelength coverage. This paper is one of several devoted to analysing and modelling Herschel-PACS observations of various young stellar associations from the GASPS open time key programme. Aims. The aim of this paper is to elucidate the gas and dust properties of circumstellar discs in the ∼10 Myr TW Hya association (TWA) using new far-infrared (IR) imaging and spectroscopy from Herschel-PACS. Methods. We obtained far-IR photometric data at 70, 100, and 160 μm of 14 TWA members; spectroscopic observations centred on the [OI] line at 63.18 μm were also obtained for 9 of the 14. The new photometry for each star was incorporated into its full spectral energy distribution. Results. We detected excess IR emission that is characteristic of circumstellar discs from five TWA members, and computed upper limits for another nine. Two TWA members (TWA 01 and TWA 04B) also show [OI] emission at 63.18 μm. Discs in the TWA association display a variety of properties, with a wide range of dust masses and inner radii, based on modified blackbody modelling. Both transitional and debris discs are found in the sample. Models for sources with a detected IR excess give dust masses in the range from ∼0.15 M⊕ to ∼63 M⊕, This research has been funded by Spanish grants AYA 2010-21161-C02-02, AYA2012-38897-C02-01, AYA2011-26202 CDS2006-00070, and PRICIT-S2009/ESP-1496. We also acknowledge support from ANR (contract ANR-07-BLAN-0221) and PNPS of CNRS/INSU, France. C. Pinte acknowledges funding from the European Commission’s 7th Framework programme (contract PERG06-GA-2009-256513) and from Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR) of France under contract ANR-2010-JCJC-0504-01. W.F.T. thanks the CNES for a post-doctoral position.W.F.T., F.M. and I.K. acknowledge funding from the EU FP7-2011 under Grant Agreement nr. 284405 (DIANA project). J.C.A. acknowledges the PNP-CNES for financial support. F.M. acknowledge support from the Millennium Science Initiative (Chilean Ministry of Economy), through grant “Nucleus P10-022-F”