Pic of the Day

SOFIA soars over the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains with its telescope door open during a test flight. Image: NASA/Jim Ross

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 747 Jumbo jet modified to carry a reflecting telescope with an 8 foot diameter mirror. Being as the aircraft can operate at 45,000 feet, that gets them above most of the atmosphere, which should make viewing conditions very good. But you are in an airplane traveling at 500 MPH which is liable to make any kind of observation a little tricky.  We won't even think about problems with vibration.