UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART CHOSEN AS GERMAN SOFIA INSTITUTE

The German SOFIA Institute has landed at Stuttgart.

The University of Stuttgart was successful in its bid for the home of the German operation center for SOFIA.

For the next 20 years, Stuttgart will be the German home base for the Boeing 747SP. On board will be a telescope with a mirror with a diameter of 2.7 meters. With this telescope it will be possible to observe the origins of stars and solar systems, among other things. The light that these young objects emit cannot be detected on the Earth, because [atmospheric] water vapor absorbs infrared radiation. Not until a height of about 13 km is the way clear for observations. Until now, only satellites or much lower lying observatories, such as those on Hawaii at a height of 4200 m, have been available to astronomers. Mountains are not high enough, for the previously stated reasons, and the installation of telescopes in satellites is extremely expensive and inflexible. SOFIA offers the possibility to carry out observing flights, in the Northern and also the Southern hemispheres, always with the latest technology. With respect to ground-based telescopes, SOFIA has the advantage that it can observe almost any point in the night sky. Regular flights originating from New Zealand are also foreseen for investigation of the Southern sky. With respect to satellites, in addition to the financial advantage there is also the possibility of changing instruments between flights or optimizing them during a flight, a significant benefit.

At the Institute for Space Systems, a department with more than 20 Scientists and Technicians will be established in order to look after the aircraft and its telescope, and to represent the interests of the German instrument teams. The joint German-American project, for which the German side pays 20%, will have 15 German co-workers permanently working in the US. A strong collaboration between 4 institutes at the University, the Stuttgart airport, the Steinbeis Foundation for Technology Transfer, as well as 15 medium-sized firms from Baden-Wuerttemberg, work on this project. It will also have an impact in the area of education. At present, 5 schools from the Stuttgart area, the Planetarium and 4 additional schools in Brandenburg, as well as the Landesinstitut for Schools and Media will take part in the formation of the so-called Educational and Public Outreach Program. This program will kindle the fascination of astronomy, air travel, and technology in a wide public audience, especially youth from Elementary School to Gymnasium. In this respect, schools and school children will be offered the possibility to participate actively in astronomical research, along with the opportunity to fly on SOFIA. Currently involved are the Johannes-Kepler Gymnasium in Weil der Stadt, the Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium, the Michael-Bauer School and the Merz School in Stuttgart, as well as the Friedrich-Schiller-Gymnasium in Marbach.

However there are still a few technological hurdles to be overcome yet. In the fall of 2005 SOFIA will lift off from its American base at NASA in the vicinity of San Francisco. But SOFIA will also be seen in Germany. During full operations after a few years, SOFIA will be stationed twice a year for a week in Stuttgart. During this time, servicing of the aircraft engines and the telescope will be carried out. At the same time, the various instrument teams will be offered the possibility to test and improve their instruments. Also during this time the public will be offered access to the aircraft.

In the next 2 to 3 months the details will be worked out for the signing of the contract.

For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Roeser and Stefan Kirches.

For more information and to see this same text in German, please visit: http://www.irs.uni-stuttgart.de/aktuelles/