Recent Results from the SOFIA Airborne Observatory

Half of the radiant energy in the Universe emerges in the mid- to far-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (wavelengths of ~10 to 300 microns). Yet, due to absorption by the Earth's lower atmosphere, mid- and far-infrared astronomy is nearly impossible from even the best ground-based sites. At its operating altitude of 12 km, SOFIA flies a 2.7 m diameter telescope above 99.9% of the atmosphere's absorbing water in a highly modified Boeing 747. SOFIA can therefore observe broad swaths of the infrared spectrum available to no other observatory. With its state-of-the-art suite of instruments, SOFIA performs broadband imaging, high-resolution spectroscopy, and polarimetry in the mid- and far-infrared to address fundamental astrophysical problems concerning the formation of stars and planets, the synthesis of biomolecules, and extreme environments in the Galactic Center and nearby galaxies. In this talk I will describe some of SOFIA's recent scientific achievements, including measurements of magnetic field directions in star-forming gas filaments, a luminous episode of enhanced mass accretion toward a young high-mass protostar, expansion of a gas "bubble" in Orion being driven by the wind from a high-mass star, and the detection of helium hydride (HeH+), the first molecule ever formed in the Universe. I will describe how SOFIA's new instrument HIRMES, to be deployed in 2021, will make fundamental measurements of water vapor and water ice in protoplanetary disks to advance our knowledge of how planets form. Finally, I will discuss the many synergies ALMA has with SOFIA.