Research program(s)
Production year
2017
© Nicolas BAKER/IRAP/NASA/CNRS Images
Reference
20170029_0025
Boeing 747 SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for infrared astronomy)
Boeing 747 SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), equipped with a telescope whose mirror measures 2.5 m in diameter. This NASA aircraft converted into a flying observatory is stationed at Palmdale, California. It flies by night at high altitude (up to approximately 14 km) to observe the stars in infrared from the stratosphere. During this mission in February 2017, SOFIA enabled observation of the Orion Nebula, the region nearest to the solar system in which massive stars form. A map of Orion will thus be produced to characterise the dynamics of gases from observations of carbon ion emissions, very abundant in regions of star formation. Twenty flights, each lasting some ten hours, will be needed to produce this map. SOFIA is equipped with the GREAT instrument, which converts the light collected by the telescope into scientific data.
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