FIRST SCIENCE OBSERVATIONS WITH SOFIA/FORCAST: THE FORCAST MID-INFRARED CAMERA

Journal Article · Fri Apr 20 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/749/2/L18· OSTI ID:22047902

Herter, T L; Adams, J D; Gull, G E; Schoenwald, J; Henderson, C P; Nikola, T; Stacey, G ^[1]; De Buizer, J M; Vacca, W D ^[2]; Keller, L D ^[3]

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1. Astronomy Department, 202 Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801 (United States)
2. Universities Space Research Association, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 211-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)
3. Department of Physics, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850 (United States)

The Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) completed its first light flight in May of 2010 using the facility mid-infrared instrument FORCAST. Since then, FORCAST has successfully completed 13 science flights on SOFIA. In this Letter, we describe the design, operation, and performance of FORCAST as it relates to the initial three Short Science flights. FORCAST was able to achieve near-diffraction-limited images for {lambda} > 30 {mu}m allowing unique science results from the start with SOFIA. We also describe ongoing and future modifications that will improve overall capabilities and performance of FORCAST.

• OSTI ID: 22047902
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 749; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
CAMERAS
DESIGN
DIFFRACTION
IMAGES
INFRARED SPECTRA
INTERMEDIATE INFRARED RADIATION
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
TELESCOPES
VISIBLE RADIATION