EARLY SCIENCE WITH SOFIA, THE STRATOSPHERIC OBSERVATORY FOR INFRARED ASTRONOMY
- SOFIA Science Center, Universities Space Research Association, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 232, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)
- NASA Ames Research Center, MS 232, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)
- Astronomy Department, 202 Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801 (United States)
- Max-Planck Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, Bonn (Germany)
- Lowell Observatory, 1400 W. Mars Hill Rd., Flagstaff AZ 86001 (United States)
- SOFIA Science Center, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 211-1, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)
- School of Physics, The University of Western Australia (M013), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009 (Australia)
- Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church Street, S. E., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)
- Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago, 373 W. Geneva St., Williams Bay, WI (United States)
- Astronomy Department, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1400, Austin, TX 78712-0259 (United States)
The Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an airborne observatory consisting of a specially modified Boeing 747SP with a 2.7 m telescope, flying at altitudes as high as 13.7 km (45,000 ft). Designed to observe at wavelengths from 0.3 {mu}m to 1.6 mm, SOFIA operates above 99.8% of the water vapor that obscures much of the infrared and submillimeter. SOFIA has seven science instruments under development, including an occultation photometer, near-, mid-, and far-infrared cameras, infrared spectrometers, and heterodyne receivers. SOFIA, a joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft und-Raumfahrt, began initial science flights in 2010 December, and has conducted 30 science flights in the subsequent year. During this early science period three instruments have flown: the mid-infrared camera FORCAST, the heterodyne spectrometer GREAT, and the occultation photometer HIPO. This Letter provides an overview of the observatory and its early performance.
- OSTI ID:
- 22047901
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 749, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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