The entire galaxy M51 was imaged using both FIFI-LS and GREAT. The FIFI-LS observations took only 7 hr of observatory (wall-clock) time. The image is shown with a surface brightness scale in units of erg/s/cm2/sr.

“ A SOFIA Survey of [C II] in the Galaxy M51. I. [C II] as a Tracer of Star Formation ”
J.L.Pineda et al (2018), ApJL, 869, L30

The data are available publicly available in the archive under project ID 04_0116 for further research.

Downloading the Data

Visit the SOFIA Data Archive at IPAC

  • Under "Spatial Constraints", select "All-Sky"
  • Under “Proposal Constraints”, enter “04_0116” into PlanID field
  • Under “Data Product Constraints”, ensure that only “Level 4” is checked
  • Select Search

To then view the mosiac of the entire field:

  • Select the “FIFI-LS” tab
  • Sort by descending Exposure Time, the longest one is the mosaic of the entire field
SOFIA [C II] Map of M51
Pineda et al. 2018