Science Results Archive 2021

By Matteo Luisi

Paper: Stellar feedback and triggered star formation in the prototypical bubble RCW 120
Luisi, Matteo, et al., 2021/04, SciA, 7, 9511.

By David Neufeld & Joan Schmelz

Paper: Terahertz Water Masers. II. Further SOFIA/GREAT Detections Toward Circumstellar Outflows, and a Multitransition Analysis
Neufeld, David A., et al., 2021/01, ApJ, 907, 42.

By Emma Beasor

Paper: The Age of Westerlund 1 Revisited
Beasor, Emma R., et al., 2021/05, ApJ, 912, 16.

By José Pablo Fonfría and Joan Schmelz

Paper: Detection of infrared fluorescence of carbon dioxide in R Leonis with SOFIA/EXES
Fonfrí­a, J. P., et al., 2020/11, A&A, 643L, 15.

By James De Buizer and Joan Schmelz

Paper: The Extraordinary Outburst in the Massive Protostellar System NGC 6334 I-MM1: Strong Increase in Mid-Infrared Continuum Emission
Hunter, T. R., et al., 2021/05, ApJL, 912, L17.

By Joan Schmelz

Paper: The Strength and Structure of the Magnetic Field in the Galactic Outflow of Messier 82
Lopez-Rodriguez, E., et al., 2021 ApJ 914 24

By William Reach and Joan Schmelz

Paper: Extraplanar Gas in Edge-on Galaxies Traced by SOFIA Observations of [C II]
Reach, William T., et al., 2020/10, ApJ, 902, 28.

By Joan Schmelz and James Jackson

Paper: Infrared observations of the flaring maser source G358.93-0.03. SOFIA confirms an accretion burst from a massive young stellar object
Stecklum, B., et al., 2021/02, A&A, 646A, A161.

By Sarah Nickerson, Naseem Rangwala, and Joan Schmelz

Paper: The First Mid-infrared Detection of HNC in the Interstellar Medium: Probing the Extreme Environment toward the Orion Hot Core
Nickerson, et al., 2021/01, ApJ, 907, 51.

By Enrique Lopez Rodrigues & Joan Schmelz

Paper: The Magnetic Field Across the Molecular Warped Disk of Centaurus A
Lopez-Rodriguez, E., Nat Astron (2021).

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, has been used extensively to look many objects in the universe, from black holes to galaxies and even the Moon.

A decade ago, German researcher Heinz Hübers led a team to improve one of SOFIA’s infrared instruments – the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies, or GREAT – with a new laser technology. He realized that the upgrade would not only help to study the distant cosmos, it could also be used much closer to home.

By Cornelia Pabst, Javier Goicoechea, and Joan Schmelz

Paper: Expanding bubbles in Orion A: [C II] observations of M 42, M 43, and NGC 1977
Pabst, C. H. M., et al., 2020/07, A&A, 639A, A2.

By Charles “Chick” Woodward, Kassandra Bell, and Joan Schmelz

Paper: The Coma Dust of Comet C/2013 US₁₀ (Catalina): A Window into Carbon in the Solar System
Woodward, Charles E., et al., 2021/02, PSJ, , 2.

By Arshia Jacob and Joan Schmelz

Paper: First detection of ¹³CH in the interstellar medium
Jacob, Arshia M., et al., 2020/08, A&A, 640A, A125.

Not all appears as it would seem in the Whirlpool galaxy. One of the best-studied spiral galaxies and a delight to amateur astronomers, Messier 51, as it’s officially named, is influenced by powerful, invisible forces.