Latest Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Stories

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Using observations from an airborne observatory, NASA researchers have discovered new details on how massive stars form within a cloud of interstellar gas and dust. An emerging star known as G35 has been observed forming in an orderly process similar to the one undergone by smaller stars like our sun, according to the scientists’ report in the Astrophysical Journal. Lead author Yichen Zhang said the observations of G35 made with...

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured the most detailed mid-infrared images yet of a massive star condensing within a dense cocoon of dust and gas. (Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The star is G35.20-0.74, commonly known as G35. It is one of the most massive known protostars and is located relatively close to Earth at a distance of...

NASA The first four Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA) educators returned safely to Earth, landing in Palmdale, Calif. early in the morning Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, after completing their initial flight on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA. That flight launched the AAA program’s first full year of operations, during which 26 educators from classrooms and science centers across the United States will fly on SOFIA as partners with scientists conducting...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Using the airborne telescope on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), astronomers have learned that a series of recent starbursts had taken place in the central region of the Milky Way, NASA officials reported on Tuesday. According to the US space agency, our galaxy’s nucleus is home to a black hole with four million times the mass of the sun. It is orbited by a large disk of dust and gas, and holds...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured new images of a ring of gas and dust seven light-years in diameter surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and of a neighboring cluster of extremely luminous young stars embedded in dust cocoons. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) The images of our galaxy's circumlunar ring (CNR)...

NASA NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., helped advance the agency’s overall mission of Earth and space science and aerospace technology research as it continued supporting NASA's four mission areas during 2012. Aeronautics X-48 Blended/Hybrid Wing Body The remotely piloted "C" version of the X-48 Blended Wing Body sub-scale research aircraft successfully flew for the first time on Aug. 7. The new X-48C model was modified from its earlier X-48B...

NASA NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft has recently received major upgrades to its observatory and avionics systems that will significantly improve the systems' efficiency and operability. The new SOFIA hardware and software upgrades fully integrate the telescope with the observatory's command and control system, according to acting SOFIA Deputy Program Manager Michael Toberman. Enhanced pointing and tracking capabilities have been integrated based...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Astronomers will soon be getting the chance to peer through a telescope that will be flying high above the city lights. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will begin its first full cycle of science flights starting in November 2012, and extending through December 2013. SOFIA is a modified 747SP aircraft that carries a telescope with a diameter of 100 inches to altitudes above 39,000 feet, which is beyond...

The Astrophysical Journal, a leading professional astronomy research publication, will issue a special edition of its Letters volume on April 20 with papers about observations made with NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne telescope. SOFIA is a highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that carries a telescope with a 100-inch (2.5-meter) diameter reflecting mirror that conducts astronomy research not possible with ground-based telescopes. By operating in the...

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Astrophysical Journal, a leading professional astronomy research publication, will issue a special edition of its Letters volume on April 20 with papers about observations made with NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne telescope. (Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) SOFIA is a highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that carries a telescope with a 100-inch...