SOFIA in the Right Place at the Right Time

[NormB]

I took this Photo today as I was out at the Airport.. (Not the best one as it was with my Cellphone)



This Post refers to the same Aircraft.

In a special celestial event visible only from the Southern Hemisphere, Pluto passed directly between a distant star and the Earth on the morning of June 30, New Zealand time (June 29 in the U.S.). As the dwarf planet and its atmosphere were backlit by the star, this “occultation” caused a faint shadow of Pluto to move across the surface of Earth at more than 53,000 mph, creating a ripe opportunity to perform scientific analysis – if instruments and observers could be in the right place at the right time. The only observatory capable of positioning itself above terrestrial weather and directly in the center of Pluto’s shadow was NASA's SOFIA, a Boeing 747SP jetliner modified to carry a 100-inch (2.5-meter) diameter telescope built by NASA’s partner, the German Aerospace Center.



SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, is operating from a base in Christchurch, New Zealand between June 15 to July 24, 2015. Flying out of New Zealand enables SOFIA to study celestial objects that are more easily observed, or can only be observed, from southern latitudes. The occultation observations were conducted during one flight in the observatory's science plan that includes studies of 40 celestial targets to be observed during a 15-flight program.

And More to the story at the  NASA Web Site Here