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Image through one of SOFIA’s windows, overlooking over one wing with two of the engines in view. The colorful sunset sky and the crescent moon are visible as the team prepares to observe Venus.

The sunset and crescent moon are visible as the SOFIA team prepares to observe Venus. Credit: NASA/AFRC, Carla Thomas

Posted on January 19, 2022February 7, 2022 Full size 1000 × 1500

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Published inSOFIA Observes Venus: A Delicate Dance to Understand Our Hot and Cloudy Twin’s Atmosphere
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Centaurus A with magnetic streamlines

About SOFIA

SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, was a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a 2.7-meter (106-inch) reflecting telescope (with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters or 100 inches). Flying into the stratosphere at 38,000-45,000 feet put SOFIA above 99 percent of Earth’s infrared-blocking atmosphere, allowing astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes. SOFIA was a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR.

SOFIA Resources

  • NASA SOFIA website
  • German SOFIA Institute

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Image Gallery

Composite image of the nebula RCW 120
NGC 6946, the Fireworks Galaxy
[CII] 158 µm map of the Fireworks Galaxy overlaid on optical multicolor image
[CII] 158 µm map of the Fireworks Galaxy
Infrared image of the Cat's Paw Nebula with inset showing high-mass protostar pre- and post-outburst
SOFIA takes off from its base of operations at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Building 703 in Palmdale, California.
SOFIA landing in French Polynesia
SOFIA in French Polynesia
SOFIA landing in French Polynesia with mountains in the background and tropical trees in the foreground
Hubble image of Westerlund 1
A color image of the emissions in RCW 49 showing the shell, ridge, inner dust ring, and transition boundary.
Artist’s impression of outflowing radiation from water masers on a star similar to R Crateris.
The SOFIA team begins lifting the upper rigid door off the aircraft.
The SOFIA team lowers the upper rigid door onto a stand for inspection and servicing.
FORCAST image of the galactic center next to the same area showingi onized carbon intensity contours of the Sagittarius B region
Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 7479 with 20 cm radio continuum contours in yellow. The boxes highlight the ends of the lower and upper counter-arms; expanded versions of these regions are shown in the left and right panels where the circles depict the aperture of SOFIA’s FIFI-LS instrument.
SOFIA FORCAST measurements (orange) of the V838 Mon spectrum, and the best-fit composite model of SOFIA data with a silicate-to-alumina ratio of 50:50 (yellow), overlaid atop an image of V838 Mon
Image through one of SOFIA’s windows, overlooking over one wing with two of the engines in view. The colorful sunset sky and the crescent moon are visible as the team prepares to observe Venus.
Image showing NGC 1097 with inset of the starburst ring in the center with magnetic streamlines
Orientations of the magnetic field within the starburst ring of NGC 1097
Animation showing streamlines over NGC 1097
NGC 7331 galaxy with circles showing the different sections of the galaxy.
SOFIA on the runway at Santiago International Airport
A long horizontal narrow orange cloud on a background of soupy brown and gray clouds. Magnetic field streamlines are laid over the orange cloud like stripes on a tiger's back.
Two images of Jupiter side by side. On the left is Jupiter with its red spot and swirling brown, beige, and white cloud bands. On the right is Jupiter in the same position but with only a few bands showing yellow and dark orange against an orange background, with no red spot visible.
This composite image of R Aquarii resembles a ring of fire over a black field, with a glowing purple “S” flowing through it. Near the center of the image, in the middle of the ring and the “S” wave, is a twinkle of bright white, which is the Mira variable in R Aquarii.
Green and red swirls of nebulae are seen over a field of bright blue stars with W3 glowing white. Two spectra are laid over the background image, one green, one red.
Cygnus-X northeast region with segments showing the magnetic field orientations and curves highlighting filaments and sub-filaments.
Arc-shaped patch with gold border and SOFIA text in gold with the telescope mirror in place of the O. The patch reads "New Zealand 2022, NASA, DLR, USRA, DSI" and shows SOFIA flying over New Zealand with the Milky Way and the fours stars of the Southern Cross constellation in the background sky.
Deployment crew and staff stand in front of the SOFIA aircraft, all wearing neon yellow high-vis vests and jackets.
Milky Way galactic center, looking like a band of red clouds against a starry background.
SOFIA at Christchurch International Airport
A 3D model of the Orion Nebula shows Orion’s Veil shell as a bluish gas surrounding the nebula depicted in red and yellow
Infrared image of Orion Nebula with curved and dashed lines over it showing outflows, rims, lobes, shells, and protrusion along with location of Trapezium stars.
SOFIA at Christchurch Airport, NZ at night
SOFIA is seen in front of Building 703 with crew going down the stairs
The image shows flux data obtained by SOFIA’s FORCAST instrument overlaid on an orthographic projection of the Moon
A subset of polarization vectors are overlain atop a Spitzer Space Telescope image of Lynds 483.
Artist’s rendition of a cataclysmic variable in which a white dwarf (white/blue) is accreting material from its nearby Sun-like companion (yellow).
Artist’s conception of Cygnus A, surrounded by the torus of dust and debris with jets launching from its center
The planet Venus with a spectra laid over it
Composite image of SOFIA aircraft with Orion magnetic fields in the background and a swoosh depicting various mission patches. At the bottom are thumbnails of significant SOFIA science images.
Composite image of BYF 73 with magnetic fields overlayed.
Illustration showing the layers of Earth's atmosphere with the positions of the SOFIA aircraft and the two Oxygen 18 and Oxygen 16 molecules
Composite image of Cygnus X obtained by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, with SOFIA’s upGREAT ionized carbon data overlaid in blue, green, and red
The spectral energy distribution of WD 2226-210 superposed on an image of the Helix Nebula from Hubble Space Telescope
30 Doradus with magnetic field streamlines overlaid
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SOFIA: Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Official: Brian Dunbar
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