Science Results Archive 2020

SOFIA Detects Water on the Moon

By Casey Honniball, Paul Lucey, and Joan Schmelz

Paper: Molecular water detected on the sunlit Moon by SOFIA
C.I. Honniball, et al., Nature Astronomy 2020.

Researchers using SOFIA have made the first-ever detection of the water molecule (H2O) on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery refines our understanding of the behavior of water and how volatile elements and compounds interact with airless bodies throughout the Solar System and beyond.

Posted October 26, 2020    Read more

Molecular Processing in the Disks of Massive Stars

By Andrew Barr, Alexander Tielens, and Joan Schmelz

Paper: High-resolution Infrared Spectroscopy of Hot Molecular Gas in AFGL 2591 and AFGL 2136: Accretion in the Inner Regions of Disks around Massive Young Stellar Objects
Barr, Andrew G., et al., 2020/09, ApJ, 900, 104.

Posted October 08, 2020    Read more

A Magnetic Hourglass Detection for a Low-Mass Protostar

By Elena Redaelli and Joan Schmelz

Paper: Magnetic Properties of the Protostellar Core IRAS 15398-3359
E. Redaelli, et al., 2019 A&A, 631, A154.

Posted September 15, 2020    Read more

Magnetized Filamentary Gas Flows in Serpens South

By Thushara Pillai and Joan Schmelz

Paper: Magnetized filamentary gas flows feeding the young embedded cluster in Serpens South
Pillai, T.G., et al., 2020, Nat Astron (2020).

Posted August 20, 2020    Read more

The Chemical Enrichment of the Universe

By Kathleen Kraemer, Boston College and Gregory Sloan, Cornell University

Paper: Stellar Pulsation and the Production of Dust and Molecules in Galactic Carbon Stars
K. E. Kraemer, et al., 2019, ApJ, 887, 1.

Posted August 04, 2020    Read more

SOFIA Reveals the Complex Nature of a 'Simple' Star Formation Tracer

By Yoko Okada, University of Cologne

Paper: First Detection of [13C II] in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Y. Okada, et al., 2019, A&A, 631L, 12O.

Posted July 08, 2020    Read more

The Role of the Magnetic Field in the Galactic Center

By Joan Schmelz (USRA)

Posted June 11, 2020    Read more

Signatures of Star Formation in the Galactic Center

By Matthew Hankins
Paper: SOFIA/FORCAST Galactic Center Legacy Survey: Overview
Hankins et al., 2020, ApJ.

SOFIA’s first completed legacy program provides researchers with a vastly improved view of warm dust in the center of the Galaxy, revealing signatures of star formation in exquisite detail. 

Posted June 01, 2020    Read more

Massive Star Formation in the Omega Nebula

By Wanggi Lim and Joan Schmelz
Paper: Surveying the Giant H ii Regions of the Milky Way with SOFIA. II. M17
Lim, et al., 2020, ApJ, 888, 98.

Posted January 07, 2020    Read more