Stellar Astrophysics with the Stratospheric Observatory for infrared Astronomy

Andrew Helton

USRA/SOFIA, USA

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.7 meter telescope carried aboard a Boeing 747-SP aircraft with imaging and spectroscopic capabilities spanning optical to sub-mm wavelengths. The telescope is inertially stabilized and provides diffraction limited imaging at wavelengths longer than ~15 mm. Since SOFIA observes at altitudes between 37,000 and 45,000 feet, above 99% of the water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere, it is able to obtain IR and sub-mm observations unavailable to ground-based observatories. Many of SOFIA's capabilities are especially well suited for studies of stellar astrophysics. Here we present a selection of the instruments available on board SOFIA with highlights from recent programs covering stellar evolution from the earliest stages of objects embedded in nascent molecular clouds to the lasts gasps as post-AGB objects.

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