The airborne observatory SOFIA has already discovered the first molecule in the universe, but what else remains to be uncovered? It’s now starting to reveal insights that could change our understanding of Earth’s atmosphere as we know it.
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A combined mission from NASA and the German Aerospace Center, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, conducts its research more than 12,000 meters high in the stratosphere.
For years, this airborne observatory has been helping us better understand our universe, but it seems as though a well planned upgrade to one of its on-board instruments has just given us some important insight about our own home planet. Originally designed to detect infrared light in celestial bodies across the universe, SOFIA hosts eight instruments on board.
Each instrument is intended to study a particular phenomena over a wide range of wavelengths. This provides astronomers a unique opportunity to use this suite of instruments at an altitude above literally 99 percent of the Earth’s infrared-blocking atmosphere.
SOFIA removes the limitations of ground based telescopes that might result in blurry images or even incomplete datasets as infrared light would filter through the Earth's atmosphere. And SOFIA has already discovered some pretty cool things. Like the first molecule in the universe, helium hydride, and even neighboring star systems.
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SOFIA Offers New Way to Study Earth’s Atmosphere
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An airborne stratospheric observatory measures the concentration of atomic oxygen directly for the first time
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"GREAT is the first instrument to directly measure the concentration of atomic oxygen in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere."
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