By Bill Reach and Joan Schmelz
For the first time, SOFIA has made a detailed map of water on the surface of the Moon. Comparison with the lunar landscape shows that the water emission is strongest on the shady sides of deep craters and high mountains. Researchers used observations taken on 2022 February 17 as part of a SOFIA Legacy project intended to explore how water is distributed across the lunar surface.
by Matthew Hankins
by Natalie Butterfield
by Nicola Schneider, Alexander Tielens, and Anashe Bandari
Paper: FEEDBACK: a SOFIA Legacy Program to Study Stellar Feedback in Regions of Massive Star Formation
Schneider, N., et al., 2020/10, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 132j4301S.
By José Pablo Fonfría, Ed Montiel & Joan Schmelz
By Anicia Arredondo
Paper: Regional Map of Molecular Water at High Southern Latitudes on the Moon Using 6 μm Data From the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
C.I. Honniball, et al., Geophysical Research Letters 2022.
By Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Extragalactic magnetism with SOFIA (SALSA Legacy Program) -- IV: Program overview and first results on the polarization fraction
Lopez-Rodriguez, Enrique, et al., 2022-05-00.
By Timea Csengeri and Joan Schmelz
Paper: SOFIA/GREAT observations of OD and OH rotational lines towards high-mass star forming regions
Csengeri, T., et al., 2022/02, A&A, 658A, A193.
By Yingjie Cheng and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Completing the Protostellar Luminosity Function in Cygnus-X with SOFIA/FORCAST Imaging
Cheng, Yingjie, et al., 2022/05, MNRAS, 512, 960.
By Dennis Lee and Joan Schmelz
Paper: HAWC+/SOFIA Polarimetry in L1688: Relative Orientation of Magnetic Field and Elongated Cloud Structure
Lee, Dennis, et al., 2021/09, ApJ, 918, 39.
By Elizabeth Tarantino and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Characterizing the Multiphase Origin of [C II] Emission in M101 and NGC 6946 with Velocity-resolved Spectroscopy
Tarantino, Elizabeth, et al., 2021/07, ApJ, 915, 92.
By Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Extragalactic Magnetism with SOFIA (Legacy Program) - II: A Magnetically Driven Flow in the Starburst Ring of NGC 1097
Lopez-Rodriguez, Enrique, et al., 2021/12, ApJ, 923, 150.
Magnetically-driven flows feed the super massive blackhole at the center of NGC 1097. SOFIA investigated this long-standing problem of the large-scale transfer of matter from the body of the host galaxy to the active nucleus.
By Archana Soam and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Spatial Variation in Temperature and Density in the IC 63 PDR from H2 Spectroscopy
Soam, Archana, et al., 2021/12, ApJ, 923, 107.
By Youngmin Seo and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Probing Polarization and the Role of Magnetic Fields in Cloud Destruction in the Keyhole Nebula
Seo, Young Min, et al., 2021/08, ApJ, 917, 57.
By Dario Fadda and Joan Schmelz
Paper: [C II] and CO Emission along the Bar and Counter-arms of NGC 7479
Fadda, Dario, et al., 2021/03, ApJ, 909, 204.
SOFIA observations of the barred spiral galaxy, NGC 7479, were able to separate shock-enhanced ionized carbon [CII] emission from that associated with star formation, reminding us that it is important to consider multiple mechanisms when studying the [CII] emission in galaxies with active nuclei.
By Alejandro Borlaff and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Extragalactic Magnetism with SOFIA (Legacy Program). I. The Magnetic Field in the Multiphase Interstellar Medium of M51
Alejandro S. Borlaff et al 2021 ApJ 921 128
By Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Direct measurements of atomic oxygen in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere using terahertz heterodyne spectroscopy
Richter, Heiko, et al., 2021/12, Communications Earth & Environment, 2, 19.
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.