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'First light' for flying observatory

The image at right shows SOFIA's false-color infrared view of Jupiter, including a white stripe of relatively transparent clouds. The image at left is a visible-light view of Jupiter from astronomer Anthony Wesley, provided for comparison's sake.
The image at right shows SOFIA's false-color infrared view of Jupiter, including a white stripe of relatively transparent clouds. The image at left is a visible-light view of Jupiter from astronomer Anthony Wesley, provided for comparison's sake.NASA / Anthony Wesley
By Cosmic Log

The first images from a telescope are always a cause for celebration among astronomers. The team behind the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, celebrated their telescope's first in-flight night observations on May 26. The composite infrared image of Jupiter you see at right in the image above represents one of the first fruits from SOFIA's "First Light." To learn more about the SOFIA airborne observatory, which is actually a Boeing 747 modified to carry a 100-inch reflecting telescope, check out NASA's news release and this report from Space.com.

Cosmic Log