NASA photograph by Carla Thomas

SOFIA lifts off from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., at sunset.

The Science Center for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, is now accepting proposals for observing flights from February 2017 to January 2018.

The observatory’s position, above more than 99 percent of the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere, and its suite of seven highly-specialized instruments, make it ideally suited for use in studying a variety of astronomical objects and phenomena including:
* The life cycle of stars
* Formation of new solar systems
* Black holes at the center of galaxies
* Planets, comets, and asteroids in our solar system
* Complex molecules in space identification
* Nebulae and interstellar dust

As a partnership between NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, there are approximately 476 hours of observing time available through the SOFIA Science Center and approximately 84 hours available through the DLR.  U.S. and German review panels made of experts from the scientific community will evaluate the scientific merits of submitted proposals.

Details and proposal guidelines are available at http://go.nasa.gov/1rGiHeA.

SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP jetliner modified to carry a 100-inch diameter telescope. It is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., manages the SOFIA program, science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association headquartered in Columbia, Md., and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center’s hangar 703, in Palmdale, Calif.

NASA photograph by Tom Tschida

The NASA logo on Bldg. 703 at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, Calif., is reflected in the telescope’s 2.5-meter primary mirror.

One-of-a-kind camera added to SOFIA

The newest instrument, an infrared camera called the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-Plus (HAWC+), was installed on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, recently. This is the only currently operating astronomical camera that makes images using far-infrared light, allowing studies of low-temperature early stages of star and planet formation. HAWC+ includes a polarimeter, a device that measures the alignment of incoming light waves. With the polarimeter, HAWC+ can map magnetic fields in star forming regions and in the environment around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. These new maps can reveal how the strength and direction of magnetic fields affect the rate at which interstellar clouds condense to form new stars. A team led by C. Darren Dowell at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and including participants from more than a dozen institutions developed the instrument.