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Session 9 - SOFIA and IR Instrumentation.
Display session, Wednesday, January 07
Exhibit Hall,
SOFIA will provide a unique opportunity for spectroscopy in the mid-infrared. In particular, SOFIA will allow high spectral amp; high spatial resolution investigations of molecules that are blocked by the Earth's atmosphere. To take advantage of this opportunity, we are building the Echelon X Echelle Spectrograph (EXES), a PI class spectrograph operating from 5.5 to 28.5 microns. The two most important molecules are water vapor and molecular hydrogen which will be probes of star forming regions, protoplanetary disks, interstellar shocks, circumstellar shells and planetary atmospheres. High spectral resolution (R - 100,000) will give optimum sensitivity to cold interstellar gas and provide access to information in spectral line profiles. No current or planned spaceborne instrument will have this capability. In addition to the cross-dispersed high resolution mode, EXES can operate as a long-slit spectrograph at R - 10,000 and R - 1500. These resolving powers can address a broad range of Galactic, Extragalactic, and planetary problems.
