NASA ‘s observatory aircraft made a series of scientific flights in Chile to study the Magellanic Clouds , which can only be seen from the southern hemisphere.
On its first visit to South America, NASA ‘s SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) observatory plane made eight scientific flights in Chile to make observations of the Magellanic Clouds , only visible from the southern hemisphere .
Equipped with a powerful telescope, computers and scientific instruments and a crew of 20 people, including astronomers and engineers, the huge plane, a Boeing 747SP, landed last week at the Santiago airport with the mission of observing the universe.
The airborne observatory made eight flights for several hours at night to observe the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud , sort of mini-galaxies that are part of the Milky Way .
“They are two galaxies that are the closest galactic neighbors of our Milky Way. Both are gravitationally bound to the Milky Way and will eventually merge with our galaxy in several billion years,” a NASA statement said .
“There are many objects like the Magellanic Clouds that are only visible from the southern hemisphere and that is why it is very important that these flights be made from Chile,” explained Ezequiel Treister, an astronomer from the Catholic University and who received the SOFIA team.
observation flights
Treister indicated that “the plane flies at night at 12,000 or 13,000 meters high, but with a hole in the fuselage”, through which the telescope, using infrared light, observes the emission of dust or the emission of gas.
Once the light is received, it enters the instrument camera where the images are recorded to later be processed and analyzed in computers, where they are studied for years.
“The telescope is constantly moving, it has to compensate for turbulence (…) The position of the plane is what allows the telescope to look at the sky, all that makes it unique, it makes it both a scientific and an engineering challenge,” he added. .
The plane was fitted out in 2009 and a year later the SOFIA telescope made its first observation.
“The most famous discoveries SOFIA has made are the first molecule to form after the Big Bang , and as recently as last year, we discovered water on the surface of the Moon ,” said Ed Harmon, SOFIA mission chief of operations. .
