A Jovial Surprise: SOFIA Airborne Telescope Observes Jupiter
Planetary scientists utilized the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR, to examine Jupiter’s…
SOFIA
SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is an airborne observatory created by NASA and the German Space Agency. The observatory is within a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft. Its mobility allows observation of the solar system from any position on the earth. Since the observatory is in the stratosphere, the observing telescope sees infrared light, which scientists use to study the energy levels of different objects in the solar system. Read about discoveries made by SOFIA at SciTechDaily.com.
Revealing Cosmic “Skeletons” – SOFIA Maps the First Magnetic Fields of a Galactic Bone in Their Entirety
Most stars in spiral galaxies form within the galaxy’s arms. Building the “skeletons” of these galaxies are galactic bones, long filaments that outline the densest…
Tilted Galaxy Turns Ionized Carbon Emission Studies Topsy-Turvy
Because the effects of observing a galaxy at an angle are complex, spiral galaxies are much easier to study if their orientation is just right…
SOFIA Reveals How Magnetic Fields Help Feed a Supermassive Black Hole
A black hole at the center of a galaxy plays a role in the galaxy’s death, eating up their surrounding dust and gas and not…
SOFIA Observes Venus: A Delicate Dance to Understand Our Hot and Cloudy Twin’s Atmosphere
SOFIA recently completed a new set of observations of Venus to study the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere. Observing Venus was particularly challenging. Venus…
A Stellar Merger’s Astrophysical Evolution in the “Blink of an Eye”
Everything we see in the universe is a snapshot of the past: As light takes its time to reach our telescopes, the system we’re observing…
NASA SOFIA Observations Reveal a Spiral Galaxy’s Invisible, Opposing Arms
NGC 7479 – also known as Caldwell 44 – is a barred spiral galaxy, with a bar-shaped center filled with stars, as is characteristic of…
NASA’s Airborne Observatory SOFIA Observes Star Formation Near the Galactic Center
Looking at the ionized carbon emission from Sagittarius B provides critical information about star formation in our own galaxy and beyond. Sagittarius, or Sgr B,…
SOFIA Captures First Clear View of a Boiling Cosmic Cauldron Where Stars Are Born
UMD-led team used NASA’s SOFIA telescope to capture high-resolution details of a star nursery in the Milky Way. University of Maryland researchers created the first…
NASA’s Telescope on an Airplane – SOFIA – Offers New Way to Study Earth’s Atmosphere
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, has been used extensively to look many objects…
Comet Catalina’s Glowing Tail Indicates Comets Delivered Carbon to Rocky Planets
In early 2016, an icy visitor from the edge of our solar system hurtled past Earth. It briefly became visible to stargazers as Comet Catalina…
Magnetic “Highway” Fuels Massive Ejection of Gas and Dust Out of the Cigar Galaxy
What’s fueling the massive ejection of gas and dust out of the Cigar galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 82? We know that thousands of stars…
HAWC+ Reveals Magnetic Chaos Hidden Within the Whirlpool Galaxy
Not all appears as it would seem in the Whirlpool galaxy. One of the best-studied spiral galaxies and a delight to amateur astronomers, Messier 51, as…
Galaxy Survives Black Hole’s Feast – “Goes Against All the Current Scientific Predictions”
The hungriest of black holes are thought to gobble up so much surrounding material they put an end to the life of their host galaxy….
NASA’s Airborne Observatory Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that…
Magnetic Fields May Help Solve Mysteries at the Center of Our Galaxy That We Can’t Explain With Gravity
The area around the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is dominated by gravity, but it’s not the only force…
NASA’s Telescope on an Airplane – SOFIA – Finds Clues Hidden in Pluto’s Haze
When the New Horizons spacecraft passed by Pluto in 2015, one of the many fascinating features its images revealed was that this small, frigid world…
SOFIA’s Infrared View of the Skies Uncovers Massive Newborn Stars and Celestial Magnetic Fields
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, studies the universe with infrared light. That’s a range of wavelengths on the infrared spectrum, from those measuring…
