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COLUMBIA, Md., June 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — After a two-year hiatus, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared ASSOFIA has returned to Christchurch, New Zealandfor a long deployment. About once a year, SOFIA temporarily moves its operating home to better observe celestial objects in the Southern Hemisphere.
To meet the high demand from the SOFIA scientific community to observe the southern skies, SOFIA has been setting out from various places in the Southern Hemisphere. This year, SOFIA already deployed once to Santiago, Chile, for a quick, two-week deployment to observe the Large Magellanic Cloud. Now, SOFIA is heading back to New Zealand for the seventh and final time.
“We are thrilled to be returning to Christchurch to continue to study and discover the infrared universe,” said Naseem Rangwalathe SOFIA project scientist.
SOFIA has made 12 deployments over its operational lifetime, generally leaving Palmdale, Californiato observe celestial objects and phenomena not visible from its home skies. It observed occultations in Florida and New Zealandas well as atomic oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, stellar feedback, and magnetic fields from German soil.
Christchurch is often SOFIA’s home away from home when deploying overseas. This time, SOFIA plans to conduct 32 flights to observe a wide range of celestial objects and phenomena, like cosmic magnetic fields, stellar feedback, and cosmic rays, using two instruments, HAWC+ and GREAT.
