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SOFIA — The Observatory

SOFIA — The Observatory. open cavity (door not shown). Educator work stations. pressure bulkhead. Scientist work stations, telescope and instrument control, etc. TELESCOPE. scientific instrument (1 of 7). Secondary Mirror. Infrared Instrument. Infrared Light Mirror. Visible Light Mirror.

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SOFIA — The Observatory

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  1. SOFIA — The Observatory open cavity (door not shown) Educator work stations pressure bulkhead Scientist work stations, telescope and instrument control, etc. TELESCOPE scientific instrument (1 of 7)

  2. Secondary Mirror Infrared Instrument Infrared Light Mirror Visible Light Mirror Visible Light Camera SOFIA Light Path Incoming Infrared Light Spherical Hydraulic Bearing Light Tube Primary Mirror

  3. DIFFRACTION: larger telescope produces sharper images Representing the resolution of a 90-cm (36-inch) telescope … versus a 250 cm (100-inch) telescope

  4. SOFIA’s newly-aluminized primary mirror

  5. Putting it together:L-3 Communications Integrated Systems,Waco, Texas

  6. Telescope Cavity, with Door open

  7. “Line Ops” (ground tests)

  8. First 100%-Open Door Test FlightDecember 2009

  9. The telescope:Floating on spherical bearing;Orientation/position sensed by gyroscopes/GPS;Optical TV cameras view field around target

  10. The SOFIA Telescope Inside the Cabin Exposed to the Sky

  11. Aero-acoustics (1) Acoustic Power Spectrum Density (PSD) versus frequency

  12. Telescope Pointing Stability

  13. Image Quality (PSF size) Point source image size in focal plane versus wavelength

  14. What does SOFIA do that the Hubble Space Telescope can’t? SOFIA can easily study: > IR: objects much cooler than normal stars like the Sun for example: stars and planets in the process of forming; > IR: objects embedded in, or behind, opaque ISM dust clouds; SOFIA’s instruments can see into and through those clouds > IR: organic molecules in space, which have many of their spectral lines and bands at infrared wavelengths; > Mobility: Foreground solar system objects as they occult background stars. SOFIA’s Advantages

  15. SOFIA’s advantages, cont’ What are SOFIA’s capabilities relative to the Spitzer infrared space telescope? • SOFIA’s telescope mirror is 3x larger than Spitzer’s, so > SOFIA can see details 3x smaller > SOFIA can resolve objects in 9x more crowded regions • SOFIA has more instruments than Spitzer (7 versus 3), so: > SOFIA has more ways to analyze a wider range of wavelengths > SOFIA will have 2nd-, 3rd- and 4th-generation instruments • SOFIA has a design lifetime of 20 years, versus Spitzer’s 5 years (limited by cryogen supply)

  16. SOFIA’s First-generationScientific Instruments The 7 first-generation instruments cover the full IR range with imagers and low-to-high resolution spectrographs (http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/instruments/)

  17. First four instruments … FORCAST mid-IR camera (Cornell) GREAT far-IR heterodyne spectrometer (MPIfR) HIPO optical high-speed photometer (Lowell Observatory) FLITECAM near-IR camera (UCLA)

  18. GREAT far-IR spectrometer => FORCAST mid-IR <= camera

  19. SOFIA’s Scientific Instruments • FORCAST (camera; Cornell) 2010 • GREAT (spectrometer; Germany) 2011 • HIPO (photometer; Lowell Obs.) 2011 • FLITECAM (camera; UCLA) 2011 • FIFI LS (spectrometer; DSI) 2014 • HAWC (camera; U. Chicago) 2014 • EXES (spectrometer; Ames/UC-Davis) 2014

  20. Cycle 1 (Nov.’12 – Dec.13) Instrument Capabilities • FORCAST • Facility Class Infrared Camera • Imaging modes fully supported in Facility Instrument Mode 5-40 mm • GRISM spectroscopy will be offered with resolutions of typically a few hundred (see SOFIA web site) on a shared risk basis • GREAT • Principal Investigator Class Spectrometer • L1a/b and L2 modes offered ( Likely L1 and L2 ) • GO and GREAT team collaborate after selection • FLITECAM • Facility Class Instrument • Imaging modes will be fully supported after commissioning • GRISM spectroscopy ( R~2000) offered as shared risk • HIPO/ FLIPO • Special purpose instrument • Requires collaboration with instrument PI

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