This is a past event. View and download the presentations given at the 2019 Winter AAS SOFIA Workshop by selecting the links below. The Cookbook Recipes used in the workshop may be found
here
.
SETUP+
[pdf]
FORCAST
[pdf]
HAWC+
[pdf]
SOFIA Workshop for FORCAST and HAWC+ Data Analysis
Sunday, January 6, 2019
8:30 am - 5:15 pm PST
Washington State Convention Center, Room 201
Fee:
FREE
Agenda: FORCAST 8:30 am – 12:00 pm, HAWC+ 1:00pm – 5:15 pm
Important Update: The SOFIA Science Center has waived the registration fee for the workshop to ensure that all interested students and scientists attending the 2019 Winter AAS have access to this opportunity to get assistance with learning to use SOFIA data.
Astronomers interested in learning how to analyze SOFIA data are invited to enroll in the upcoming SOFIA workshop at the AAS. Participants will have the chance to work directly with SOFIA scientists on recently obtained, publicly available data sets from polarimetry observations using the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-plus (HAWC+) and imaging and spectroscopic observations from the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST).
The workshop will begin with guided tutorials on working with and analyzing public data using SOFIA data analysis recipes. The tutorial will be followed by an interactive session where participants can analyze SOFIA data independently, with assistance readily available from SOFIA scientists. Public datasets like the polarimetry maps of 30 Doradus, recently obtained by HAWC+ will be made available to follow along with the tutorial and for the interactive session.
Register for the workshop on the AAS registration page. If you are already registered for the meeting, you may revisit the registration page to add the workshop.
Special Session: “The Role of Magnetic Fields and Filaments in Star Formation”
Monday, January 7, 2019
2:00–3:30 pm
This session brings together the latest studies of magnetic fields in star forming regions and the galactic environment, with a goal of better understanding the role of magnetic fields shaping interstellar matter into the observed filaments, funneling atoms and molecules to enhance star formation efficiencies, and supporting clouds against collapse.
Understanding the role of magnetic fields in the star formation process is evolving from a theoretical to empirical approach thanks to the development of polarimetric capabilities in the infrared at major observatories and dedicated missions. Polarization observations are needed to connect the processes associated with star formation, from the smallest to the largest scales, and effectively test current theories. Herschel observations established that molecular filaments are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium and are the preferred sites of star formation. Planck’s all-sky dust polarization maps show an organized magnetic field on large (few parsec) scales. SOFIA’s new instrument, HAWC+, studies the role of magnetic fields in filaments on sub-parsec scales. ALMA provides polarization observations on even smaller scales, probing regions surrounding young protostars. Sub-orbital platforms, such as BLASTPOL and BLAST-TNG, can deliver a wealth of data on magnetic fields in the interstellar medium. Arecibo’s 21-cm neutral hydrogen data reveal pervasive interstellar filaments that follow galactic magnetic field lines. These observations can help to break degeneracies on the MHD modeling of the turbulent interstellar medium. This session brings together the latest studies of magnetic fields in star forming regions and the galactic environment. The goal is to better understand the role of magnetic fields shaping interstellar matter into the observed filaments, funneling atoms and molecules to enhance star formation efficiencies, and supporting clouds against collapse.
List of Speakers
Erin Cox,
Northwestern University
Jim Jackson,
SOFIA
Giles Novak,
Northwestern University
Sarah Sadavoy,
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ian Stephens,
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
SOFIA Town Hall
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
6:30 - 7:30 pm PST
SOFIA provides the international community with open access to mid- and far-infrared observations with a broad range of instruments, as well as a unique platform for instrument and technology development.
The Town Hall will discuss several important new developments for the observatory including:
- Using Strategic Director’s Discretionary Time
- Cycle 7 SOFIA Legacy Programs
- SOFIA Next Generation Science Instrument Call
- SOFIA five-year Flagship Mission Review
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) continues to provide to the international community open access to mid- and far-infrared observations with a broad range of instruments. SOFIA is in its 6th observing cycle and starts the 7th cycle in May 2019.
SOFIA also provides a unique platform for instrument and technology development, as illustrated both by the ongoing upgrades of existing SOFIA instruments and an active new instrument program.
In this Town Hall meeting, we will discuss several important new developments for the observatory including these topics:
- Using Strategic Director’s Discretionary Time (SDDT), SOFIA made highly relevant observations in the last months. The SOFIA Science Center immediately made fully reduced datasets available to the community. There will be an overview over the datasets to encourage the astronomical community to analyze the observations and use them for their research.
- Cycle 7 introduces SOFIA Legacy Programs (SLPs). They offer on the order of 100 hours of observations over 2 years and encourage the proposal teams to deliver enhanced data products to the community. We will discuss the response of the community to the call for SLPs and regular programs.
- The SOFIA Next Generation Science Instrument Call solicited step-1 proposals with a due date on August 1st. We will report on the proposal selection and the status of the subsequent implementation of Instrument Concept Studies.
- In 2019, SOFIA will undergo a 5 year Flagship Mission Review. The implications and SOFIA’s preparations for the review will presented during the Town Hall.
In addition to communicating the current status and plans by the SOFIA program, this Town Hall will allow direct feedback by the SOFIA user community regarding current operations, future plans.
Awards for the 2018 Best SOFIA Paper and Best SOFIA PhD Thesis will also be announced at the event.
SOFIA Tours
Due to impacts to the aircraft’s schedule, all tours scheduled for Monday, January 7-Wednesday, January 9, are cancelled.